ProgressinChess Volume 9 of the ongoing series Editorial board GM Victor Korchnoi GM Helmut Pfleger GM Nigel Short GM Rudolf Teschner 2002 EDITION OLMS OG Mark Dvoretsky Strategic Play School of Chess Excellence 3 Edited and translated by Ken Neat 2002 EDITION OLMS aay ‘Also avaiable by Mork Dvoresty Schoo! of Chess Excellence 1 ~ Endgame Analy 3-283-00416:1 [Ths book's iso avaiable in the German ection unde the tie -Gaheimeisse goxialien Schocntionngs" 3-285-00254.1) School of Chess Excellence 2 = Tactical Play 3-283-00417 (this books os0 avatiabie in the German ection under the te Modome Schachtoktit 3-283.00278-9) In preperation by Mark Dvoretsy School of Chess Excollance 4 -Opsring Developments 3-283-00419-6 0 Deuttcho abloinek CP ehhetsaunahme Dvoreck, Mark School of cross oxcetence / Mak Dicey Fl. ond tans. by kn Neat Hombiechitor2uien*€a. Orne enetsacrt Gonamnise oer senachata 2. States ploy - 2002 (Progestin Chase: val 9) uy 1SaN'3.283 00218-8 Copyiight © 2002 Edition Olms™AG, Brees. 11 - CH-8634 HombrecriikSAYZUiih, Smtzerona AN fights reserved. This book is Sold subject fo the conattion that ft shall nok. by way of fade oF otherwise. be lent, re-sold, tuted out oF otherwise circulated in ony form of binding oF cover other nan that in which its published and without a similar condition including this concttion being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, Printed in Germany Eaitor and translator: Ken Nect Typeset: Amo Nickel -Eation Maree, 0-10551 Betin Printed by: Diuctetel Frog. Schmucket GmbH, 0:49624 Loningen Cover: Prof, Paul Konig, D-31137 Hiidesnein 'SBN 3-285.00418-8 a> Contents Preface. Part six Positional Play The logic of a positional battle Which pawn to advance? Undermining pawn moves ‘The blocking of passed pawns “The two bishops. ‘An unusual exchange Mistakes, mistakes... ‘Advantage in space Flutes forthe rook Don't forget about prophylaxis! " Mysterious’ rook moves Training with grandmaster... What is meant by a strategic plan? How a plan is formulated (Clash of plans ‘The initiative seek a win ‘An easy win Exercises for analysis. Part seven ‘Simple Positions. ‘Attack with a small army. ‘Abundance of possibilities ‘A memorable loss When technique lets you down: The scales tioped ‘A-course in tactics. Defend actively! Failure to take the initiative “Turing points Exercises for analysis BESBsoe SBRaBVes 402 109 120 120 137 141 143 149 187 164 169 174 178 181 186 198RD : mR» Solutions to exercises. 196 “The skil ofthe artist is the abilty fo force the mind to act on th level of intuition, area ‘Skills a recollection of inpiration and therefore is partly @ noble imitation of it Inspiration may be intermaltert, and i this case skl fils io the gaps. Index of exercises by thinking skills and t skills and types of problems to be solve azi !scander Index of players. mame a eae Praying positional chess means formulating opinions {and striving to demonstrate them, ‘Aron Nimzowitsch Preface “The book you have before you, dear reader, Is a continuation of the tiles already pub- lished in the series “School ot Chess Excellence’ ~ Volume 1: ‘Endgame Analy- sis, and Volume 2: ‘Tactical Play’. This, the third volume, ts dovoted to positional play. In reviews of the preceding books it was sometimes mentioned that they are rather dificult, and ful of complicated analysis. The ‘games and game extracts which you wil now ‘meet are mainly (although, of course, not al) rather simpler. Some readers will be reas- sured by this, others may possibly be disappointed, But boliave me, have never aimed deliberately to simplify or complicate material - here, evidently, i all depends on the chosen topic and the literary form Generally speaking, it sometimes seems to me that the conscientious author is much less capable, than tis customantly imagined, ‘of controing that which he writes. My Books ‘may or may not be iked, but itis unlikely that they could have been eny diferent. 1 demonstrate examples that are memorable tome inthe way that !myselt see them, and | desoribe the chess and psychological mechanisms in the samo way that | explain them in lessons to my pupils. Lam sure that fan attempt to deliberately correct, and artticially simplty the material would have led toa significant lowering of ts quality, and a distortion of he chess pattems generated iin the mind of the author, and, | hope, subsequently also in the mind of the reader. {As in the provious books of the series, your attention is drawn to episodes, in which in some way oF another Uiv author of these lines and his pupils participated ~ our own ‘games or games of other playars with our analyses. As was the case previously, the reader is invited to tain himself by independ- tentiy soiving numerous problems. These are ‘divided into ‘questions, the replies to which ‘are contained in the following text, and ‘exercises’, with replies at the end of the book.Re Part Six Positional Play Francis Bacon once remarked: ‘Some books are tobe tasted; others tobe swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested’ ‘Among the books devoted to positional pay, one of the few thats universally recognised, ‘and in my view simply the best, was and remains ‘My System’ by Aron Nimzowitsch ‘At one time, when | was stil a schoolboy, | carefully studied this book, after which, from being a frst catagory player, in just over a year | became a master, Even now, if one of my pupils is not familar with Nimzowitsch’s ideas, | definitely recommend that he should read My Sys- tem’. But when | myself give lessons in positional play, | employ a different ap proach, Nimzowitsch proposes a complete set of principles of positional play, His ideas nave withstood the test of time, although, of course, many of the positions that he examined are today interpreted rathor afer. cently. But suppose you have assimilated these principles, and have begun (success: fully) to employ them in your games. What ‘ext? After alli is clear that forthe present by no means all the positional secrets have been disclosed to you. You will probably want (perhaps not immediately, but in @ year (or two) to make a new step forward in this tial. But how can this be done, and what ther approaches are possible here? Its about ths that I wish to talk, {must once again emphasise: itis not a question of correcting or even adding to 'Nimzowitsch, but about other approaches to Your work. A complete system of knowledge, Convenient for assimilation and memorising, wil, unfortunately, not be obtained —chess is too complicated and diverse, for it to be ‘exhausted with the aid of a single plan or theory. But on the other hand, ary of the directions offered fr improving your positional ‘mastery remains open ~ along i, desired you cen advance further and further, achiov- ing progress in the most varied aspects of the game. Initialy wo wil analyse one good positional {game. With ts help it wil be possible to make an objective sketch of those directions in Positional improvement that are to be do- ‘scribed. Then we wll lake a step or two along Certain ofthese directions. In the course of things we will solve numerous exercises (the ‘majorty of which are not as complicated as those in the two previous books of this series). Posttonal exercises are a great rarly on the pages of chess books and ‘magazines, and here | endeavour, al least to ‘Some degree, to make up fo this dec Rp The Logic of a Positional Battle What a good thing Adam had. When he said @ good thing, he know nobody had said i before Mark Twain In the game with which we will begin there ‘are no complicated variations or spectacular ‘combinations, but even so it appeals to me. ‘The stict logic ofa positional batle also has ts inherent beauty. Dvoretsky - Timoshchenko USSR Team Championship, Moscow 1966 1 ef 96 2 Bea ag? 3 gs 06 4 bg s 5 a3 Des 6 6 Dge7 7 Sgez 00 8 00 eb 9 Sas Otherwise Black would have played 9...d5 ‘and subsoquently pressed along the defile on the weak 49 pawn. ee war 10 bt White's flexible development scheme is, in ry view, one of the best against the King’s Indian setup chosen by my opponent. The pioces, as in the ancient opening tabiyas from the shatranj era, are harmoniously deployed behind the pawns — therefore at the appropriate moment almost any white pawn can advance. And for the present they ‘re securely covering all the important ‘central squares, The two sides’ subsequent plans are largely dictated by the pawn formation, Black, thanks to his pawn at 05, has more space on the kingside, andtis there that he intends to attack. Possible, for example, is ..17-18 and 96-95, creating the threat of 15-4, But White can neutralise the danger by meeting the enemy pawns atthe appropriate moment with 2-14) He himself will obviously attack on the {queenside. By advancing his pawn to DS and ‘course, in view of 11 Sixhs Wxh3 12 xc? ‘But now imagine that Black's king's knight is ‘ot at @7, but at 16 or h6, Then 10...Lh3t ‘would be possible, since 11 Sxh37! Wha 12 ©xc77? @ig4 leads to mate. This simple tactical motif suggests to Black the idea of sightly changing the arrangement of his forces in the opening. When | played this variation as Black, | Preferred to develop my knight at 16, For example: 6..216 7 ge2 0-0 8 0-0 Les 9205 Wa7, 10 Zb1 is now harmless in view of 10..2n3, Inthe event of 10 Becs the reply 10... 23?! Would now be inaccurate: 11 xf! Bxt6 12 Dds 08 13 Lae xge 14 dixge 15 15 Wh3 with the better chances for White (Savon-Dvoretsky, USSR Championship Fist League, Odessa 1974) Strongar's 10..2e8! reparingnot only 1t..&ih3,butalso 11.26 followed by ..c7-c6. The white knight at dS feels uncomfortable (especially when there is the second knight at ¢3), it is unable to move from there with gain of tempo, by ‘exchanging itself ora black knight. This type ‘of position is described in more detail in the aticle ‘The supertiuous piace’ in my book ‘Training for the Tournament Player’ Artur Yusupov has several times tried devel: ‘oping his knight at hé. Generally speaking, in the opening it is customary to develop the Pieces towards the centre, but this plan too has its logic. The knight does not block the 17, pawn, and in addition the a5 square is devalued. If the white knight goes there, it ccan be driven away by ..c7-c6, and White is forced to retreat with loss of time ~ the exchange of knights is no longer possibie, This was the course taken by the game Petursson-Yusupov, played in the 1978 World Junior Championship in the Austrian town of Graz: 10405 24)c3 “ic6 393 96 4.2.92 £97503 6 6 @ige2 Oné!? 7 Nb17! a5 8 a3 Le6 9.2d5 (8 d3 is sounder) 9..0-0 100-0 Wa7 11 bd Ghat 12:43 Laxg2 13 sexg2 t5 14147 (14 e417) 14..axb4 15 axb4 ext4 16 gxtd De7 17 Odes ths 18 Ws Aigd 19 a2 Wes 20 Zt9 6 21 na 26 22 te Ans 23, Dqi n6 24 43.9517 25 tgS hxgS 26 Aixgs ‘Whe! 27 fa (27 n4 2g6) 27.198 28 tt Dg6 29 Wet 141 30.04 Ze5 31 Axes SxeS 92 ed1? (32 ee) 32...804 99 EKG Rg? 34 De? Hxer! 35 dxe2 (35 skc3 WoT 96 sixad Wd) 35..Wg7 36 Walt (56 3bt1 Wo2+ 97 eat Rat+ 38 ct Ha2) 36,.Wars 37 Sei Dg3 38 Sxta cds. White resigns. Instead of 7 Rb1, preferable is 7 0-0 0-0 803 oe, ~ RD Inthe game Hort-Kovacevie (Zagreb 1969) White gave his opponent the opportunity to demonstrate the main ideas incorporated in the arrangement of his pieces ~ the ex ‘change of lightsquare bishops and the driving away of the knight from a5: 9 4571 Wa7 10 KbI Aha! 11 bd Bxge 12 sdxoe ga 13 b5 06, and Black's chances were already better. It probably makes sense to prevent the exchange of bishops: 9 h3! WT 10 sono 15 11 ba)? Haee 12 dé! Here are two practical examples: Csom-Yusupov (Olympiad, Luzern 1982): ¥2..1471 19-05 13 14 axes Hx06 15 Sxt3 Exf9 16 Dot (threatening 17 “gS or 17 Qo8) 16..e8 17 hg? The 18 Lag Dts 49 Wo9 \ce7 20 adt, and White has an obvious advantage; Foritos-Talmanov (Skopje 1970}: 12.407 19 dxe5 xe5 14 2b2 95! (Black intends 15.94 0F 15...h5) 15 14 Dogs! 16 hg Dygds 17 gt Wes! 18 Wa2 Wess 19 Wes xes (folowed by 20...8te8) with a ‘complicated and, apparently, roughly equal position, In this last game Black coped successtully with his opening problams. Ful White's play can be improved. Instead of 14 Sb? he should for the moment have Kept the bishop ‘on the c1-H6 diagonal, by playing 14 Ebt!? ‘Anothar tempting idea (suggested by Vadim Zviaginisey) is 8 b3!? White wants to save ‘tempo, by advancing his pawn to d4 in one {0 (immediately, or after the preparatory h2= his and sea) Lotus return tothe set-up with the knight on 7 10 mas Sometimas Black plays 10.25. This move ‘seems dubious to me, since It runs contrary to a woll-known positional principle: ‘Don’t ‘move pawns on that part of the board where you are weaker’. The ...a7—a5 advance leads to the opening of the ale, which will mast probably favour White ~ it being he who is dominant on the queenside, Aller 11 a3 in the 1967 Moscow Team Championship, Sergey Veselovsky played 11,.lae8?! against me. He wanted to concentrate all his pieces on the kingside, but in 50 doing he left his queenside completely undelended. There followed 12 a axb4 13 axbd Dd8 14 bS c6 15 bxc6 bxe6 16 Dixe7+ Bxe7. E 6-1, How would you now have contin- ued? nba Oxd5 Inthe eventof11,.06 122x074 Wxe7 1905 War 14 dxc6 bio6 15 Lad followed by Wad-a6 White has an easy game. My ‘opponent decided to exchange the light- square bishops, but for the sake of this he had to open for me the c-ile, along which it will be possible o press on the backward ¢7 pawn. 12 exes sans 13 eat Typical play! Only the dark-square bishops are tefl on the board, which means that White should arange his pawns on light ‘squares, inorder to open the diagonal for his "Re bishop and to the the opponents pawns on. squares of the same colour as his bishop 3 sixg2 14 bxg2 's 6 White's position is preferable, He controls more space, and he can attack on the ‘queenside, whereas the opponents attack ‘on the opposite side of the board is not too ‘éangerous. The black bishop runs up against its own pawns and can theretore be classed as bad. Inthe event of 15..c6 While replies 16 3 and then prepares the exchange of pawns on ¢6, in order after ..07xc8 to play 4-25 and gain the d5 square for his knight IW Black desires, he can play his knight to d4, but these squares are not equivalent. White is attacking the d4 square with his bishop, whereas the opponent is not able to ex change his bishop for the knight. Its here thatthe advantage of a ‘good! bishop over a ba! one is seen, 18 ow (0 6-1, What should White play? ‘The following move of mine was probably the best in the game. In order to find it, a chain of reasoning was required What does Black want? He will most 2 probably play 16...2:h6. Should | agree to the exchange of bishops? Generally speaking, tis desirable to keep on the board the opponent's ‘bad’ bishop. But avoiding the exchange involves a loss of time, the white rooks will be deprived of the important c1 square, and the black knight wll {go to 95, dangerously threatening my king. So that it wil probably be necessary to exchange the bishops. But an which square? The opponent can be allowed to take on ct ~ then the white rook wil immediately occupy the open fila. But after the exchange on nthe black knight wil be diverted away from 95 tothe edge of the board, The latter factor seemed to me to be ‘more important It is clear that any bishop move is @ pure waste of time. In principe, itis useful to play b4-b6, but here this is rather premature Alter 16 b5 a6!? the opening of the a-fle ‘causes White a certain amount of discor fort Its better for him frst to complet his evelopment, tying the opponent to. the defence of the backward c7 pawn, White needs to prepare the tripling of his heavy pieces on the cffle. The piece to ‘occupy ct will obviously be the king's rook The place forthe other 100k is C3, and the queen willbe deployed behind tat c2. Here a generat rule operates: ‘On an open file a ‘00k should stand in tront, and behind It the queen’ This means that it remains to make a choice betwaen 16 2b3 and 16 We2 16 Abst! The rook will certainly have to follow the route bi-b3-c3, while it necessary the queen will also be able to go 10 ct, simultaneously creating theeats along the c- file and along the ct-h6 dagonal. This means that the rook move is the most accurate. This latter factor was confirmed inthe later RD {garne Dvoretsky-Kremenetsky (35th USSR. Championship, Kharkov 1967), which con tinued 16..n6 17 Ke 296? (17.8) 18 Suxg5 neg 19 Wet! (the loss of a pawn is ‘now ineviabie) 19...fxe4 20 dxed g4 21 Exc? gxf9+ 22 Ext WD5 23 Wed Wbs 24 gi! Sh 25 adt, and White subse- ‘quently converted his advantage 16 ns 7 ane @xhe 18 Res Treatening 19 Wet; 18..017 19 Hed FraoB 20 Ket is bad for Black, ee a7 Now 19 We2 and 20 Het can be played — Black will defend his pawn by ..}e8. White vill advance his queenside pawns with a2 ‘and b4-b6, but this will not bing him any Immediate gains. Let us remember how we usually mount @ pawn attack on the kingside. Ifa black pawn stands at g6, then the usual plan is h2-hd— Fh, opening the hile. With a pawn at hé tis ‘often possible to open the gle by o2-94— (95. The general rule states: when making @ pawn storm we can use an advanced ‘enemy pawn as a ‘hook'~ a target for our attack. And if there is no such ‘hook’, it ‘should be created - then the pawn storm will grow sharply in strength. [Now the following manoeuvre of the white ‘queen becomes understandable. 19 Wet! a7 20 Was 36 ‘The rook has to be freed from having to defend the a7 pawn ~ 21 Kict was threat- ‘ened, If 20..WD8 there is the unpleasant reply 21 Was! 21 Bet nea 22 Wes ‘Aer 22-24 and b4-5 Whito willbe throat ening both to exchange on a6, breaking up the queenside, and bS-b6. In the event of _aGxb5 White will recapture on bS with Fis {ueen, transposing into a favourable ending ‘The queen could also have been placed on the more active square a5, but I did not want to {ake it too far away from the kingside, fearing a counterattack against my king, 2. 95? The decisive strategic mistake! Black's pieces are badly placed and therefore nothing comes of his planned attack ‘But what should ne have played? Ina lecture fat one of the sestione of the Dvoretsky- ‘Yusupoy school for talented young players, Alexey Kosikoy, a trainer trom Kiev, formu- lated ‘the principle of the worst piece’ decide which of your pieces is placed ‘worse than all the others, and move it to better squares. In many cases the correct move can be easily found in this way. And this is the case here: Black's worst piece is his knight at h6. He should play 22...2g8! and 23...2f6, and then, if necessary, defend his €7 pawn by 208, There is also @ more interesting, although also more risky idea ~ the activation of the queen with 22...8os!? folowed by. Fs. From b6 the queen not only defends the c7 pawn, but also threatens in some cases toa> ‘vade at €3; on the other hand, here it may ‘come under attack by the white pawns or pieces. @6-2. How should White continue? An effective procedure against a flank ‘attack by the opponent is usually a ‘counterblow in the centre. But here such 2 Ccounterblow 23 4? would be a serious mistake: alter 23.64 Black opers the fle ‘and obtains the a4 square for his knight or ‘queen, Lot us ask the question, with which itis Useful to begin, when considering any positional problem: "What does the opponent ‘want’. Obviously, he is intending 23...94 oF 23.14, In the event of 23..04 we have the very strong reply 24 (i, after which all the avenues into our camp for the opponent's pieces are completely blocked. 11 23..14 we would tke to reply 24 6, but then there will obviously follow the knight sacrifice on g4. To avoid this, itis sufficient to ‘choose the prophylactic 23 h3. But in principle, this move is undesirable, since it contradicts the afore-mentioned rule: ‘Don't ‘move pawns on the part of the board where you are weaker. If possible, itis bettero get by without it. Here it is perhaps appropriate ‘oremember also the principle of economy of force in defence: when defending, ‘make only the minimal concessions, without which itis impossible to get by. ‘The move h2-h3 is undoubtedly a conces- sion. Does White have to make it? The ..5~ advance also has a serious drawback: it removes the attack on the e4 pawn. AS a Consequence of hi, the central low 3-4! ‘becomes possible, also opening the Grd rank {and allowing the rook at c3 and queen at b3 ta take part in the defence ofthe kingside. ‘Thus it transpires that Black is not threaten: {ing anything serious, which moans that there is time to make a planned move on the queenside. 2 aa ‘Take note: the principle of ‘prophylactic thinking’, which demands that when tak- ing a decision the opponent's intentions ‘should without fail be taken into account, by no means signifies the need always to ‘make prophylactic moves. 23 6 2a at ga 1124.3 25 hag3 gd, then af course 28 ta! 25 dx05, x05 26 gxtdt The exchange of pawns allows the white knight to move to €6. Here it will be colossally strong: attacking c7, creating threats to the opponent’ king, and blocking the black queen's path tothe kingside. 26 exit 2 Baa he Slightly beter was 27..gx"8s, when White has a pleasant choice between 28 Ilxf3 and 2eeni 28 es 6 29 Weal Good technique! Black's king is forced to go {0 98, which deprives him of any hopes of Using the g-le for a counterattack. On the contrary, this fle will soon be occupied by Write FR 98 30 bs! The triumph of my opening plan of an ‘offensive on the queenside. The opponent's dolences cotapse, 30 axbs 31 axbs xt 32 sext3, 25 “This is desperation ~ after all it is perfectly possible to take the knight. But in a winning position one does nat want to allow even the slightest activation ofthe enemy forces. 33° Egt+ Og? 34 bee bes 35 Re2l Threatening 96 Rog2; bad is 35,.cxd5 96 Rre8t Wro8 37 xg7 35 Hes With the last faint hope of 96 Rog27! Hxes 37 dxo6 Was. | dacided to go into a rook tending with two extra pawns, although, of course, the simple 36 Hxc6’ was equally 6 000. 36 Bxg7+ Bxg? a7 Wxg7s ‘Wxg7 38 xg? exd5? 39 Oxe8 Black resigns. [Attor completing our analysis of the game, Using itas an example let us again return to the question of the various directions in positional improvement. We wil ist the most Important of these: Positional operations. Many actions that We undertake during a game are compara- tively simple positional operations, pursuing Immediate and clear-cut strategic aims. ‘Three main types of such operations can be distinguished 1) Improving the placing of the pieces, manoeuvres, regroupings. For example, in the above game on moves 16-18 White prepared the doubling or tripling of his heavy pieces on the crfle; on move 22 he had to decide were to keep his queen, at a5 or b; then he transferred his knight to 08; on move She began the manoeuvre ol his 100K 0 2. ‘On move 22 Black made a strategic mistake, when he refrained from the manoeuvre 26-96-16. 2) Play with the pawns, the creation of a favourable pawn formation. Remember at least the regrouping of the white pawns on moves 13-15; White's offensive on the queenside; the opponent's pawn storm on the opposite side of the board and the ways of parrying it 3) Exchanges. In this game it was neces: sary to evaluate the advisabilty of exchang: ing the dark-square bishops (when consider: ing White's 16th move). And in the opening position withthe development ofthe knight at {6 (instead of e7) Black carries out the advantageous exchange ofligntsquare bsh- ops and endeavours to avoid the exchange of knightsa Our operations may be aimed not only at improving our own postion, but also at worsening the opponent's position (lor ex: ample: the manoeuvre Wat-ct-a3 pro: Vokes ...47-26, weakening the opponent's pawn chain; the move 29 Wb2! forced the black king to move to the inferior square 98) itis often usetul to try and prevert operations planned by the opponent. i. to cary out a prophylactic operation. Positional operations (along with tactical ones) are the threads out of which the fabric of @ game is woven. The ability ‘quickly to find a favourable operation is a very important component of positional ‘mastery. This skill can and should be ‘constantly trained (exactly like combins- tive vision), by solving comparatively ‘simple exercises, which do not demand a ‘great delving into the position or a detailed calculation of variations. Evaluation of a position. Many chess terms that we employ have Several shades ‘of meaning, This includes such widely-used ‘concepts as evaluation and plan What is often understood by evaluation is weighing up the two sides’ chances, decid- ing which ofthe players stands better and by how much. During the course of a game we rarely do this explicit, but subconsciously this work is constantly carried on, and its recults influence the docisions that we take However, an even greater role is played by evaluation in another sense of the word ~ disclosing the characteristic features of a position. in any position many factors ‘operate simultaneously, and the art of evaluation consists in being able to ‘select from them the most important at the given moment. Relying on his evalua: tion, a player undertakes a plan of action, ‘and cartes out spectic positional operation. Since the time of Wihelm Steinitz, what is. understood by postional play isthe process. of evaluating a position and choosing a plan. By making progress in these fields, we ‘obviously Become stronger in positional play asa whole, Plan. In the above game, already in the ‘opening White outiined and then success {ully carried out the plan of an offensive on the queenside. Black's plan, involving an attack on the kingside, proved tobe a failure, In this sense of the word, a plan is the general course of our play over a quite lengthy period of the game, It is clear that such plans are only of a guiding nature, After a game has been played, it is not hard 0 describe, step by stop, the plan caried out int. But during the play its not usually possible to guess (and {this means, there fs no point in planning) how ‘events wil develop just a few moves ahead. For example, on the ttth move Black closed the centre by exchanging on 8, after which | arranged my pawns on light squares and set Up pressure on the cle, But he might also have played 11...08 ~ then White's plan ‘would have been diferent: the opening of the befle and the switching ofthe pieces to the ‘queenside, with the @- and t-pawns remain- ing on their original squares. Andi attorb4 S the opponent had replied ...6-c5, then alter playing my knight to d5 l would probably hhave had to prepare f2-14 or dd-d4. Only in very rare cases is it possible to Compile and put into effect a multi-stage plan, Either when the postion (opening or fendgame) has previously been very well studied by us, or if the opponent is: com pletely deprived of counterplay and we can ‘carry out unhindered any regroupings. Plans ate also what we call shorter ideas, ‘sometimes consisting merely of one or two positional operations. For example, White carried out the plan of concentrating is heavy pieoes on the cle, and in reply Black ‘should have implemented the plan of switch Re ing his badly placed knight at h6 to better squares. Prophylaxis. As Nimzowitsch pointed oul, genuine positional play combines the ‘consistent carrying out of your own plans ‘with simultaneous counteractions against the opponent's Ideas. Look again at the ‘game commentary, and you will see how ‘often the search for a solution tothe position begins with the question: "What does the ‘opponent want, and what is he now intending toplay? Meanwhile, many players are not accus- tomed to thinking in this way, and usually ‘concentrate only on their own ideas. For them the development of ‘prophylactic think: ing’ is a very important source of improve: ment ‘Typical positions. itis very useful to select positions wth simiar arrangements of pawns and/or pieces, and also positions withthe ‘same material balance —in orderto study the ‘ules that operate in them, the pans that are ‘employed, and the positional and tactical techniques. “The game we have analysedis quite a good textoook example o a Sicilian set-up against the King’s Indian. A similar structure (with feversed colours) often arises it you are playing Black against the King's. Indian Attack or the Closed Variation of the Sicilan Detence. | had analysed such positions and therefore I felt quite confident in them In the commentary the development of the black knight at {6 oF h6 (instead of 67) is brietly analysed. stands to reason that both sides also have other ways of varying their play. Occasionally, already at an eary stage ofthe game, Black plays ..7-15 0r..W7-h5, White sometimes begins an offensive on the ueenside, without completing his kingside development (with his knight al gt), oF plays ” 2-44 instead of d2-d3. The analysis of all these possibilies s essentially the analysis ‘of the given opening variation. Hence the principle: in our day the study of many typical positions is closely linked with the study of the opening. ‘Thus there are typical positions, determined by the arrangement ofthe pieces and pawns. in the opening. There are also others, not ‘connected directly with the opening ~ itis also useful to study them. For example, ‘when one side has a ‘bad’ bishop: the advantage of the two bishops; weak squares inthe opponent's position; control ofan open file; advantage in space, and so on, ‘Typical situations. Whereas typical posi- tions are defined by the particular purely ‘chess situation on the board, typical situa tions are of a general character. Attack or defence, reaction to an opening novelty, ime ‘rouble {for yourself or the opponent), playing for a win or for a draw, the exploitation of a ‘material or positional advantage — the lst of situations ean also be continued further The rules operating in typical situations are of a general nature, often not relating purely to chess, but to chess psychology €or even philosophy. Remember, if only the principle of economy of force when defend- ing tat is mentioned inthe text. Technique. The problem of the technical ‘conversion of an advantage is one of the most important in chess. In almost every ‘game wo encounter it in some form oF another, According to my observations, the majority of players, even very strong ones, ‘suffer from cartain defects in thet technique, ‘and an improvement inthis field promises an increased stably in ther play and markedly better results, In tho above game White did not have any problem in exploiting his advantage; perhapsa only his 29th move was an instructive one. ‘The question of whether the Knight should have been taken on the 33rd move is of litle Interest — here any decision was good. But ‘much more often things aro diferent: enor- ‘mous precision and accuracy are required, in Corder to convert your advantage into a wan ‘The connection with tactics and dynam- les. Strategy and tactics in choss are closaly interwoven: it is not enough to find the correct plan, itis also important to cary it out in the most accurate way. Play that is ositionally competent, but non-dynamic and insufficiently concrete, rarely leads to success. Even in such a purely positional game as the ‘one analysed above, behind certain positional docisions one can discover an underying tactical motive. For example, the choice between 16 EbS and 16 Wc2 was deter- mined to a considerable extent by the idea of subsequently making the double attack Wet ‘The initiative. History knows of players who readily conceded the inittive to thei opp0- nents. and felt quile confident in passive positions. However, in our day nearly all the leading grandmasters prefer from the very first moves to play as actively as possible, fiercely fighting forthe initiative. They believe that the possession of the initiative prom- {ses a definite advantage -a purely chess advantage or at least a psychological one. 8 Critical moments. In the course of a game, ‘experienced players fay quickly and easily find the majonty of their positional moves. But somtimes the solution to a position is not very obvious: in order to find i, serious work has to be done. The solution found is. usually a fusion of the most varied factors, direct and prophylactic, positional and tact- cal. we are able to cope successful with ‘this dificult task, the game develops in a Lerner ~ Doimatov Kutaisi 1978 + on as 2 aa 6 3 ef 16 43 6 5 kas pa7 6 00 dxot 7 x0 re 8 Ras? ‘This often happons: a position is reached that is similar toa theoretical one, but even ois not altogether theoretical, difring trom it in some dotais, Here book variations ‘cannot hep. Its goad i you are familiar with the ideas typical ofthe resulting situation, but they cannot be applied automatically - you have to delve into a concrete analysis. Which advance is correct, ..6-C5 oF ..€6- 5 ? And a second question: should one of these moves be made immediately, of should you frst castle? White is preparing @3-e4. But why is he delaying the development of his queen's knight? Obviously, Konstantin. Lerner is intending in some cases to direct it via d2 to Cc, Black has to reckon with this manoeuvre, especially i he is aiming for ..e6-e5, a U he really wants to play ..e6-e5, he should do it immediately, Ate 8..0-0 tne opponent can reply 9 Dbd2, and 9...e5? is no longer possible: 10 c4, And so, 8.051? 9 ibd21? Now @...We7 is tempting, not allowing 10 2c4? in view of 10.-04. Thon there follows 10 417, and 10...exd4 11 e651 is extremely dangerous for Black, Sounder is 9..oxd8!? with a good game. ‘The plan with ..08-c5 is also quite possible, but it should be carried out only ater the white knight goes to d2. For example: 8 (0-01? 9 Aibd2 (in the event of 9e4 or 943, corrects 9.51) 9..05 10 et 07 — Black 's alight Three months earier, at the 1978 all-union qualification ournamentin Daugavpils against Alexey Suatin, Dolmatoy had reached ex: ‘actly the same positon a tempo down (there 6 Gide dca 7 Dxc4 05 8 0-0 S07 was played). He remembered that during the ‘game he had been ataid of coming under an attack after 9 ef cxd4 10 e5, and he decided to deprive his opponent ofthis possibility by playing ..c6-c5 a move eater. 8 5? 9 Hen Itis amusing that Lemor moots ..c6-e5 with the same move as Yusupoy, although, of course, with a completely diferent idea. By Creating the threat of 10 e4 cxd4 11 85, he ‘wants to force the exchange of pawns on d 19..10712, then 10 Weal, renewing the threat. eo. xd 10 exad 0-0 11 Geat ‘With an isolated pawn the knight should be ‘on this square (this is why Black should have waited for @bd2, and only then played ..c6— 5). In contrast to the opponent's pieces, Black's are not well positioned. The place for the bishop in such postions is not at d6, but at 7, and also the queen's knight would beRD better developed at 6. It is obvious that White has won the opening battle. Vered by such an outcome, Dolmatov's Interest in the game fades and he loses it instantly, 1 6 12 gs ab7 13 Wez he? ‘An anti-positional move, weakening the kingside 14 aha ae 18 Haat 4527 16 Wea! Black resigned in view of 16...06 17 Sxe7 Wae7 18 xa Bxd5 19 Weds, 22 - RD Undermining Pawn Moves Routine decisions otten prove correct, but usualy itis ‘possible to wn only witha bold, nonstandard move. Grigory Sanakoev {A timely undermining move ~ an attack on the opponent's pawn chain with our pawn ~ {enables us to open lines for our pleces andto weaken or altogether eliminate the strong enemy pawns. ‘Sokolov ~ Dvoretsky Moscow 1963 1 s 2 Os D6 3 4 oxda 4 Oxaa Wer 5 23 6 6 a3 36 7 fea bs 8 oo 8 ©xe6 has been played many times. A Curious opening debate on this theme took place in the early 1960s between Ratmir Knolmoy and Alexey Suotin, Kholmov-Suetin (30th USSR Champion. ship, Yerevan 1962) 8..Wxc6 9 0-0 ub7 10.613 He8 11 5 We? 12 Sixb7 Bxb7 13, Wer He7 14.014 015 15 al ba. If 15..ot kKholmov gives an interesting variation: 16 2! hd 17 13 KeS+ 18 ant HIS 19 axd5. axb6 20 b3 Zh 21 etl, and 21.204 22 dwnd xc3 23 Wx! is bad for Back. 16 Ged Le7. Dangerous is 16..d4 17 Wes Duce 18 Ract 63 19 2d2, and it 19,..b8 20 Lal! followed by 21 Zxb3. 17 Radt 0-0 18 gal Sihs 19 293. White's cchanoas are beter, and he won. A year later Sustin decided to play more safely, and he took on 8 withthe pawn, Knolmov-Suetin (31st USSR_Champion- ship, Leningrad 1963) 8..dxe6 9 0-0 @5 10 Was! De7 (10.,216 11 Wa!) 11 adt ba 12 Dib Hig6 13 Whs Le 14 cd 0-0 15 Res We? 16 Od a5 17 Radi “ta 18 Sixes Wxcs. Q 6-4. How should White continue? Incorrectis 19 93? A\N3+ 20 soge g5, when the black bishop moves with gain of tompo to 1h. Kholmov found @ nor-routine solution. 19 Weal! In the event of the exchange of queens on 8, the knight is driven from the strong square Id and the fle is opened for the white rook: 19..Wx03 20 103 6 (atter 20,..2)96 21 £3 or 21 3 the black knight temains out of play) 21 D3 a6 22 £xa6 Fxa6 23 xe Qc5 24 dT! with the ‘advantage in the endgame (variation by Khoimov). And no better is 19..£e6 20, skxe6 Wxe3 21 Axt7s Bxt7 22 x03, in view ‘of the weakness ofthe 65 pawn,Re 19...We7 20 Sb Le6 21 sxe6 Dxes 22 Bd2 5. Black has a dificult ending atter 2e..Hida 23 Kidt xa 24 Rec Ra 25, Foxd8+ Was 26 Was! 23 Rd5 of (23,..Ad4 24 Bxcs Dxb3 25 (xb9) 24 DoS Bice (24.14 25 Fa? Wes 26 g3) 25 @xe6 Wxe6 26 tat, White has a Significant positional advantage, which he subsequently successtully converted ‘Note that in both games a sigrificant role in White's plans was played by the undermin: ing of the opponent's queenside pawns by aged! Even so, itis hard to believe thatthe modest move 6 a3 allows him to hope for an opening advantage, Black’s defence can most prob- ably be Improved. For example, in the fist ‘game he could have considered 14.104 (instead of 14..£5) 15 ig Wes! prevent: ing the undermining move a3-a4 (recom ‘mended by the ‘Encyclopaedia of Chess (Openings) os ab7 9 36 es The most active, although also a rather rsky way of developing the black pieces. In the game the opponent was unable to cast ‘doubts on it 10 Oba 10 .2¢3 looks more natural, but White wants to create as soon as possible the threat of the knight sacsice on a5, 10... ua? Ker est | avoided 11...Dge7, fearing 12 ad bé 13 Dd5 exdS 14 exd5. However, its conse- ‘quences are unclear, seeing as there is the important intermediate move 14...8:08! For example: 15 dho6 (15 93 es) 15..8he+ 16 tl x06 17 x06 do6 18 Wed, 2 ate Der 13 kg After 13.0145 exa5 14 exd5 Cafe! 15 Wht 06 16 Wed (16 95 16; 16 WS 0-0-0) 16.48 17 a5! White retains attacking possiblities, but objectively the sactiice Nevertheless looks not fully correct. Q65. How should Black continue? Biack has successtully completed his deve! ‘opment, and the time has come to launch a counterattack isa fs! Thanks to this undermining move, Black's rook and bishop pair become dangerously trained on the opponent’ kingside, and at the same time the queen is included in the ‘defence of g7. White's positon immediately becomes dificult, 19 Wel? ‘Only now, when annotating this game, did 1 understand the point of this move ~ defends the ¢2 pawn (in the variation 18..f404 20 2x04). During the game, of course, | was not even looking at that side of the boars w ta 20 axe Ext 2 eta te 22 Wa 1.22 WS, thon 22...Saxt2+ 23 sehi(h2) Ste! is deciswe, meee Ratz 2 Wxtz setae 24 xt? Materilly he forces are roughly equal, but Black's postional superiority is undisputed. He has available several tempting passibil: ties. | decided fist to pick up the hé pawn with my queen, avoiding the doubling of my pawns. Mm .. wa 2 tet gs ‘Threatening 26.3 26 Bez Wns a7 a2 ga 2 OS wea Black ties down the opponent’ pieces o the defence ofthe e4 pawn and clears the way for his hepawn, with the help of which he hopes to break through on the kingside. 29 Bact hs 30 at ba a On one 2 bxte Ot course, 32 Rxt2 was better “4 le oe SB ee aa ra =a wamae, a a Rb 32 ast Another undermining move! Black elimi nates the e4 pawn —the only barrier between his bishop and the kingside. 1 33 eS there follows 33...04 33 exds aixas 34 att hs ‘The final, decisive undermining move. Write resigns ‘This game was played in a school compet tion, and both players were only of first ‘category standard. Even without making allowances for Black's comparatively low ‘qualtication, his actions can be deemed ‘quite sensible and consistent. But White defended weakty and therefore | was able to put my idea into effet. Iti possible that, given stronger play by my opponent, t would all have been not so simple ~ then Black's ‘moves would have had to be subjected to a ‘more scrupulous check Playing on a neighbouring board was the significantly moce experienced Yuri Razuvaev (I think that at that point he had already achieved the master norm), He praised my move 18...15! The following day, in the Pioneers Palace, to my surprise the same ‘wae said by grandmaster Simagin, to whom | showed the game | had just played. AS you see, the aesthetic criteria of hese two strong players coincided: this good postional move ‘Seemed mare interesting to them than, for ‘example, Black's litle combination (19.14! 20 Saxte Kntay, Yusupov ~ Kupreichik 47th USSR Championship, Minsk 1979 1 a 26 2 96 3 ca aig? 4 et 46 5 8 36 6 S95 In those years against the King’s Indiana Detence Yusupov often employed the Sa: misch Variation with the development of his, bishop at 95, 6 6 ‘A couple of years later the same positon ‘was reached in the game Dolmatov- Kupreichik (Minsk 1982), which developed as follows: 7 d3!? 5. Chasing the pawn does not work: 7.186? @ Age? Wxb2 9 Dad Wad 10.ct Was 11 sae Was 12 b6! Vxa3 19 2xa8, and White gains the advantage. 7.05 8 ge? bxod 9 Sixc4 dS 10 23 ded 11 heed leads toa citfcult position for Blac. 8-5 exd5 9 exdS b57! (9..0-0) 10 bal Dbd7 11 Ager b6. 6-2. How should White continue? ‘Yusupov handled the position diferently, 7 af In order to prevent the undermining move b7-b5, White weakens the dark squares fon the queenside, conceding bt to the ‘opponent. tis hard o give a clear evaluation of his decision ~ itis perhaps a question ot siyle. Yusupov values highly an advantage in space, and he aims to consolidate it, even at 8 the cost of some positional concessions. 7. aS Q 66. Choose a plan for developing the white pieces. Black is intending ...\a6-b4. The most accurate is 8 £43! a6 9 Ket! Aiba 10 stb1 ‘After this the knight at b4 does not discomfort White at all, and he can calmly complete his development: Aige2, #d2 and 0-0. 8 Waa?! 296 9 Bat pa 10 Gige2 as?! Pointless! Black should have simply castied then White would have had to reckon with ‘three possible pawn advances in the centr: (6-5, ..€7-25 OF ...d6-d5, A threat, as le known, can sometimes be stronger than its Immediate execution. But what also told here was style of play — Viktor Kuproichik, @ resourceful tactician, decided to tempt his opponent into the variation 11 (052! dios 12 ext6? 21d34 13 Wd cxa3 14 fig? Hg8 15 Exd3. He had prepared 12,.0xf6 (instead of 12...43+?) 13 Wea sbf6, when Black has the advantage: in view of the threat of 14,..02+, he wins a piece. ‘Yusupov does not fal into te trap. 11 exds! oxds RD 2 8 oa? 7 (Keen oe Takabe an 13 ane! ‘A bold decision ~ without completing his development, White launches himself against the opponent's kingside, which is cramped by the pawn at 05. If 13..0-0 he wants to reply 14} e.g. 14...Adde 15 Wad xh 465 with an attack. A more cautious player would probably have preferred 13 0S, but then he has fo reckon with the undermining move ..17-16 (immediately or alter 13..0-0) 13 xhs Black would havellosta pawn after 13..dG+ 14 Wes Sane 15 Dxd, 14 Wiss ‘wee? It was the Knight that should have been placed on 6, since now it has almost owhere to go 15 Rez It was already possible to grab the h7 pawn: 15 Wo? Bie 16 Wxh7 Dede 17 se12, and it 17..e5, then 18 SxdS is decisive, ‘Yusupov proters fist to complete his devel- opment 18 2b we ta es 7 gr ite 18 kb5+ a7 18,..21806 19 Aixe6 fxe6 20 Wxh7 0-0-021 {x06 Hxc8 22 15 is hopeless for Black 19 00 0-0-0 20 Ret she 21 Dixe6 Wres 22 xa? War 23 Wkxh7 a 23 Bee Black fas no. compensation for the lost pawn. An intorsting practical opportunity for Complicating matters was oferes by the Sinoxpocted 23.4231? The keight im tune: i 24 Hxc3? thee flows 24,5 wth tho feats of 25.8 and 25. h8 26 Wg7 Hog8. Yusupov was intending to reply 24 Beat and had in mind the wining Variations 24. 25 Whe B15? 26 gt! or 25.05? 26 Ws! (bt, of course, not 26 ‘i957 n94) Instead of 2414 stonger is 24.1815 25 Wn6 (25 g4 West) 25..En8 26 Wea 44, won the black pieces come ave somewhat The oppancnt’s idea can be refuted by the counter biow 24 06! Afr 24.26 (00 batter 224.966 25 Hixd9 Hho 26 Wht? Whe 27 2 Was 28 hee) 25 Hes MB 26 Wig? 16 (26..5dgo 27 Wes) 27 Axat ‘Wao 28 Hie? White remains two pawns »RD 24 wher A careless move in a strategically winning postion! By playing 24 Wha! White would have prevented the activation of the enemy queen, by tying it to the defence of the €7 pawn. lf 24...2he there is the unpleasant reply 25 Wie ode wes 25h she 26 Wea aha 19 Q6-7, What should White play? {As yet the opponent has not created any real threats. The problem is that the white pieces are rather passively placed — i is nat apparent what to do with them, what active strategy to cary out, Yusupev finds a briliant solution — he unexpectedly sacifices his central pawn, in order to break up Black's kingside and then attack the resulting pawn weaknesses. 27 alt x08 27.161? came into consideration, trying to {void the opening of the e-file. Kupreichi« was apparently afraid of 26 gd, although after 28... W95 29 Wxg5 fxa5 in the ending White would have had to overoome numer: ‘us dificuties inorder to win. After 30 et it is unfavourable to reply 30.06? 31 xd dB in view of 32 6! Fxca (92... x8? 33 Qa7s Bxd7 34 oxd7 Dxt+ 36 wht!) 39 End (99 Redt!?) 93.. 2x04 G4 Hea! (248092? Eixno+t) 34. e7 35.0471 foutnot 35 Hoa? Oxt3+ 36 Hats Bxgds), and Black's positon is dificult in view of the threats of 36 \(@5) or 36 ga. Strongeris 30..RfG! 31 Mes Ixt3 32 Zxg5, and now, probably, 2...216!7 39 He2 6, since the Straightforward 32.14 33 Hag Bhxgd+ 34 Haga! (less convincing is 34 Eig? Exg6 235 Bxg6 D6!) 34.-Exgt+ 35 Bg2 Bxo2+ 136 dbxg? leads to a lost knight ending. 28 Eel! D027 After the more tenacious 26..Jtc8 White would have transposed into a highly favour- able ending by 29 West! 29 wrt ‘Qxet 30 Wxha er 30...xe3? 31 bxe3 WP! did not workin view ofthe simple 32 sb12, The move in the game leads to the loss of a piece, but also after 30,..d3 31 Wxe7 Black's postion is uner- viable. 31 gat wats a2 Txe2 The rast is @ matter of steightforward technique 32.05 33 Mi We3 34 Wxe7 exd4 35, ‘Gres dxes 36 Eta! Zeb 37 tt She 38 Sg? g5 99 Has 318 40 Hxds Ktze 41 G3 Hxb2 42 ZeS Mb3 43 Fxe3 bs 44 axbS. Black resigns, es anette Black to move Black to movea The Blocking of Passed Pawns Tne passed pawn isa criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. ‘Mid measures, such as police surveilance, are not suicient ‘con Nimzowitsch Vukic ~ Daveevski Yugostav Championship 1979 1 at 6 2 of 8 3 gs 216 4 Sge as Until recently the “stonewall” variation in the Dutch Defence was played only occasion- ally, and had the reputation of being a positionally dubious opening, tis true that, in his youth, Mikhail Botvinnik included iin his ‘opening repertoie, but later he gave it up altogether. Inthe mid-19803 grandmaster Yusupov became interested in the ‘stonewall, He realised that Black’ position, apar from the ‘ebvious minus connected with the weakness (of the dark squares, also has a serious plus. The solid pawn structure in the centre binders White's e2-e4, and without this advance his 2 bishop remains passive anc ‘may prove to be no better than the ‘bad’ cB bishop. | rememiver that one day Artur came up to ‘me and said that he was intending to employ the ‘stonewall. | was sceptical about the ‘dea, but after wo had played several blitz ‘games, | sensed that it was not easy for ‘White to proceed, ‘Whereas Botvinnik preferred to develop his bishop at e7, Yusupov always placed it on 6. However, italy success was on my side, thanks to a plan which | knew from the very old game Schlechter-John (Barmen 1905). | played 214, then e2-e31, endeav- ‘ured to force the exchange on 14 (after c4— 5), and then recaptured the bishop with the e-pawn. The resulting pawn formation is extremely unfavourable for Black. But then Artur realised that in reply to 4 he should Immediately exchange bishops. The capture 8x14 weakens the kingside somewhat, ‘which wil tll f Black sable to play ..07-g8. YYusupov successtully employed the ‘stone: wall several times. Soon’ it came ino fashion, its roputation improved, and Its theory developed significantly The game which we wil now analyse was played before the ‘renaissance’ of this ‘opening variation, and many of its subtleties hhad not yet been discovered. One such subtlety involves the move order. tums out that itis mote advantageous for White to dovelop his Knight not at £3, but at na Therefore nowadays Black usualy does not hury with ..<17-d5, but prefers 4..c6?, and only if § 2313 — §..05. And if § h3, then 5... preparing ...e6-e5, after which the knight at h3 willbe out of play 5 on Ber 6 00 6 7 68 0-0 With his bishop at d6 Black makes the usoful move 7...¥e7, and in order to play £23 White has to waste time on a2-a4 or Sb2 ang Wet 8 Bas xed 9 Bxaa Wer 10 Wet aa7 One of the serious questions that always faces Black in the ‘stonewall’ is where to develop his light-square bishop? In previous - a> times he usually directed it along the route d7-08-h5; nowadays he more often plays ‘bal. ..87-b6 and... 1 Ge2 (Q.6-8. What should White play? ‘The time for specific action has not yet come or the moment he needs to improve the placing of his pieces. 12 Beat! [At dS the white knight wil be excellently places — trom here a wil control ine Important squares 5,14 and cS. I was this arrangement of the knights that Tigran Parosian, in his time, liked to carry out. He usually developed his queen's knight at d2 and then played 213-e5-43 and Ad2-13. At fone time it was sufficient to know this prescription, in order to obtain a superior postion against the ‘stonowall 2. par 13 Bas ans: 4 Bet! ‘Touse Nimzowitsch's expression: 'a myster: ‘ous rook move". What is the point of i? 3 Firstand foremost this is prophylaxis against the exchange on 13. After 14..Lixf3 15 ext! Black does not have the reply 15.05, Its interesting to note that a few years earlier, in the game Vukic-Gazic (Sarajovo 1972) he same position was reached, There Wnite played 14 Wo2 (once again not allowing 14...x9 15 ext3 e5) 14. ed 15 Bact 6 16 Zfes #4, and did not achiove ‘anything much. On this aceasion Milan Vukie facts more purpasetully, intending after 14. Died 15 HieS to play a rapid (2-19 and e224 this is another reason for 14 Zet. wi. 35? Remember: you should not advance pawns there, where you are weaker! Black weakens his queenside, making it easier for the ‘opponent to open lines on this part of the board. As a result he has to forget about active play against the king, and the iniatlve {is completely taken over by White. 18 os! fea 1% a8 heb 7 ba axba 18 axba bs‘The abundance ot good continuations avail able to White is simply dazzling. It looks tempting to capture en passant on b6. Not tad is the plan suggested by Vukic: 19 Wb2 then O42, 12-13 and @2-e4, It is worth considering 19 4, threatening a possible invasion of the queen at 06 or c7, There is also some point in 19 Sides xe5 20 dxe5, in order subsequently to use the d square for the knight 19 Has? Played in accordance with a recommenda: tion by Nimzowitsch: White makes uso of an outpost on an open file, and, as one is supposed to do when itis a wing file, he ‘occupies it with a rook. However, in my view this is a positional mistake. Alter the ex- change on a8 itis true that White obtains @ passed pawn, but it has to be defended by both his queen, and his rook, which signi cantly restricts their activity. ise Bxas 20° bxas Fas 21 Has 2 Q6-9. What should Black play? Back appeared to be condemned to passive defence, when suddenly he has acquired an attractive possibilty of activating his game. It is very hard to resist the ternptation, at 6? Vukic awards this move two exclamation marks, and to his own move 21 Wa3 he attaches a question mark. He suggests Instead 21 We3, and evaluates the resulting position as equal. Logically this signifies that after 21 #as 06 white no longer has even equal, The charm of spectacular moves sometimes affects our perception of what is happening fn the board, But let's try to approach the problem soberly. White wil abviously reply 22 eS (although 22 a6 is also possible) ‘Where now shoul the black knight head? In the event of the exchange on c4, the white knight will go to b4 and the passed a6 pawn supported by it will be very dangerous. And 22..a8 has only one virtue: it temporary blacks the ase. t White should neverthe- less succoad in retaining his passed pawn, the knight at ad will be out of play, We see that the pretty knight jump involves a considerable strategic risk. Of course for an - RD ‘objective evaluation of it, the arguments given are insutcient~ variations have to be Calculated. But rst lotus consider what else Black might have done. ‘The opponent obviously wants to place his knight on b4, From here the knight puts pressure on 6, blockades the bS pawn and holpsits own passed a6 pawn tomake a step forward. The manoeuvre of the black knight to. a6 suggests tet, order to blockade the a-pawn and prevent the white knight from establishing itself at b4. In principle, it is avantageous for Black to exchange all the knights, since the remaining bishop at g2, securely restricted by the black pawns, does rot present any danger. Let us check: 21..ib6! 22 bs Das 23 De5 Dxbd 24 Webs We7 25 Rat Bd? 26 £243 (after 26 2xd7 xd? White cannot play 21 a6? $4.8) 26... with equality (but not 26.05? 27 dxeS x05 28 Wi}, if 23 @xa6 Bxa6 24 Ae5, then 24.47! (less preciso is 24..We7 25 at a7 26 £243}, although even this postion is defen: ble ~ there is both the careful 26...b8, as wall as the more active 26..05!7 27 bs 3a’). In the event of 25 £43, in contrast to the game, 25.206! fully merits its exclama- tion mar 22 ies Bad In Vukie's opinion, preferable was 22. ica 23 xc dxcd (i 23...bx04, then 24 DeS is strong) 24 @ib4 We7 25 a6 25. Any ye the final postion of this variation is clearly in White's favour! He continues ether 26 Kat. 0 26 sixd5!? exds 27 at Ka7 28 Wea! ( ‘should mention that in the endgame aftor 28, ‘Was Wxa5 29 Fas it is also not easy for Black to defend) 23 Dbe Wer 28 a6 6-10, Evaluate 24..2xe5, itis possible that you wil already have given fan answer when salving the previous tos. Alter all, the moves leading to this poston look more or less forced, which means that the evaluation of21...206 also depends to a considerable degree ons evaluation Atter 24..2 x05 Black is happy with both 25 dxc5? Wro5 and 25 Dexcé? Dxa6. 25 {Ret is tempting, but thon there is 25. @xa6! 25 8.8 Ws (26..Wo8 27 Lat bd) 27 Wer (127 at, then possible's either 27... Was, with tee pawns fo te piece, 0° 27_-b4) 27. Wra6 28 Wre6+ hs 29 Zacét Wats 30 Sit Wad with an unclear position Even so, Black's idea can be refuied by 25 Dbxcbt (@) 25.2108 26 Wres Hxad (26.185 27 Hot ed 28 W07) 27 Net 7 26 Wer; (0) 25..xa6 26 267+! na 27 xa! exd5 28 Wiss 298 29 x05 mM .. sar 23 ‘White's plan is clear: the manoeuvre of his bishop to dt followed by the capture on ad (at fast some useful work has also been found forthe g2 bishopl). Black s notable to do anything to counter this threat,RD 11 can now be said with certainty: 21.26 eserves ot an exclamation mark, but a question mark. The active plan chosen by Black was incorrect, and led to an extremely dificult, most probably lost postion. He should’ have preferred passive defence, involving the exchanging of knights and the blockade of the passed a-pawin at a6, ‘The question arisos: i it fair to call Black's pretty idea 21...2)B6 ant-positonal, iit can be refuted only by a single combinative way (24.2 c5 25 Dbxo6! Dxa6 26 De7+! ‘2tc.)? Afterall this refutation might not have been found! The fact that White had to resort to tactics is uite natural. Here itis appropriate to recat what Emanuel Lasker had to say: “With ‘masters, combinative and positional play ‘complement each other. With the help of ‘combination they aim to refute false values, and by positional play they try to consolidate and exploit true values’. The fact that there Is only one solution does ‘ot by any means signify that itis accidental Itis quite logical thatthe decisive role in the ‘combination is played by the knight at b4, which Black could and should have ex changed, but did not do so, However, alter the manoeuvre of the Right to af Black's postion looks so vulnerable, that | suspect that there should also be altemative ways of maintaining the advan- tage. Suppose that we were fnghtened by 24, xe ~ then instead of 24 a6! we could have tried 24 Wea!?, since in the variation 24 Wras 25 Blexcé £xc6 26 Wre6+ th 27 Wxo6 dB 28 243 (withthe threat of 29 Wo7 and 30 c6) White retains the bettor ‘chances. 25 sete 26 ts gs 2 es bes 28 Rat To 28 d1 Black would have replied 28...a5, and so White first places his ook fon the avfile. Atter 27..e7 (instead of 27...e8), 28 Eat would have been incor rect on account of28..iic8, but on the other hand the immediate 28 dt would have bboen possible, since Black's queen has 10 tend the bishop at d7. ‘Chess is the tragedy of one tempo!” ene Der 29 kat ‘Was 30 axad beat 31 xed ‘Wat 32 Exad a7 7 mite nas won a pawn. tne conversion of the advantage is not diflcut, but quite instructive. tis nol easy to make progress on the queenside — ifthe knight moves from bd, the a6 pawn wil immediately be attackod by the black bishop. This means that the ‘principle of two weaknesses’ must bo ‘employed — a ‘second front opened on the kingside, ines opened there, and the rook transferred there. In the light of this plan, White's subsequent actions are easily un derstood 33h! eae 34 gt er 35 te Skee 36 Bat Baa 37 hen - a Black was possibly intending to activate his 00k, by playing ..5e08-a7 and ...H08. By bringing his king close to the 3 square, White paries this throat. A basic principle of converting an advantage is to forestall even the slightest counter-chances for the opponent. 37 De8 38 thee at By playing his knight to a7, Black wanted 10 free his took rom the need o blockade the a- pawn, Bul the kingside, abandoned by the knight, has become indefensible 39 gxfs eats 40 gt 96 aha! 208 The knight rushes back. Here itis, the principle of two weakness in action: the ‘opponents pieces are capable of defending ‘only one part of the board, but not both simuttaneously! 42 hs ‘Ber 43 hxg6 Axgs 44 Ent! Res 45 x96 ‘The transformation of an advantage ~ White ‘exchanges the opponent's bad bishop, in ‘rd0" to broak through with his rook onto the Tih rank 6S. hxg6 48 En? bar a7 a7! ‘The time has come for the passed pawn to have the decisive word, a7 bes The rook ending after 47..Ha8 48 xcb sbx06 49 22x07 is completely hopeless. 48 Bxe7+ Black resigned in view of 48...8ex07 49 yx06+ followed by 50 4b8, when the pawn ‘queens. Aninstructive game in the positional Black to moveRp The Two Bishops Tho two bishops are, inthe hands of a skit ghter, a ternble weapon, ‘Aron Nimzouitsch In the folowing example we wil again encounter the same problems —the choice ot the optimal pawn formation and the blocked: ing of passed pawns. But to them will be added a new theme: exploiting the power of the two bishops. Orekhov — Akopian Moscow 1973 6-11. What should White play? White's advantage is voy considerable, tis, determined by two basic factors: 1) Superior pawn formation: he has a healthy ‘extra pawn on the queenside, whereas the ‘opponent's extra pawn on the kingside is doubled and is not of any particular value. 2) The two bishops: in an open ar semi-open postion they are signiicanty stronger than the two knights, which in addtion do not have a single strong-point Of course, the advantage wal be retained after any sensible move, and the only ‘question is whore itis the greatest. Tome the ‘mast technicaly correct decision seems to tbo the immediate exchange of queens: 21 ‘Hibs! axb6 22 12 folowed by 1.05, Kat and so on. The weakness of the doubled b- pawns makes it unfavourable for Black to ‘elieve the tension in the centre, and therefore his forces remain ed down. a a er And now 22 dxc5 Sixc5 23 Wed suggests itself. Evgeny Orokhov chooses a diferent, less successful plan 22 Let er 23 Rat bs 24 457! White is counting on exploting the strength of his passed pawn. However, wil be blockaded afer which the scope of the two bishops wil be rostrctod. With tho two Bishops you should open up the play, not lose 2 Wee! ‘The qucen isa far from ideal blockades, of course, but the attempt to play ‘ala [Nimzowitsch’ — transfer the knight 0 46 ~ i feluted 24.0108? 25 inl (Out not 25.46? Snd6 26 Sig? e6) 25..2ed 26 95 14 27 a6 25 ws 25 Was looks more natural. Black's reply is forced — he has no right to allow the enemy queen inat 6 3. 05 2% in ra 28.18 came into consideration (ater 25 ‘Wat tns would not nave been possio) 27 bs oxba 28 Wxba! ‘White tries tolif the blockade ofthe 35 pawn, In the event of 26...208 he will move his queen and then ty to advance c3-c4-c5 of a-at-a5, 2 Wxbar Nevertheless Black should have played 28.588! Wishing to stabilise the pawn formation on the quoenside, for amoment he stops blockading the passed pawn and is made 19 pay heavily for this. This is not surprising ~ remember Nimzonitsch's rue, jgiven as the epigram to the present chapter! 29 exba a7 30 a6! 08 White was threatening 31 S06 or 31 ads at Q.6-12, What should White play? White's advantage is about to evaporate. It ‘can be maintained only by moans ofa veled ‘and elegant combination. This is another ilustration ofthe idea of Siogbert Tarasch, iscussed in the second book ofthis series, Tactical Play, in the chapter ‘Al that gittrs is ‘hot gold’ and the two folowing chapters Tarrasch asserted that ten a combination is. necessary, in order to repair the conse: quences of mistakes committed earlier, mR 31 Bett Not $1 5? Zxd6 92 Het Keb. ce 16 at This accurate move order is necessary: 92 ‘ibs? Eas 33 14 xd6 does not work. ae gxts 33° ibs Bas Now 34 Bxe5? tkeS 35 <2xe8 (hoping for 35.,.Bx08? 36 4) leads after 95...x06 to an unclear positon. 36 Ghat The ea of the combination! The two bishops finaly display their power. Black has ‘no satisfactory defonce against the threat of 35 Fixes, a. Oxd6 35 ite Hes 36 Pixos 36 S.a6 is also good 38. Ret a7 kt Bea 38 Hes! ear 39 eB bs 40 295 Rot at axa Exba 42 Bers Black resigns. ‘ee nxt dagam 7aD Dvoretsky ~ Nikitin Moscow 1970 (@ 6-13, What should Black play? (On this occasion the situation is of a quiet Satie nature, A detect of Black's postion is: his isolated d-pawn. The two bishops com- Ppensate to some extent for this weakness, but not more ‘The strongest continuation soems to me to bo 25..g5! 26 fxg5 fx95. Black's bishops gan more scope, and on the open Hie the vite king does not feel altogether comfor- able. It is probable that in this way Black would have maintained the balance. Inthe game a less good move was made. 25 ort The question arises: why did Alexander Nikitin — a highly experienced player ~ ‘commit this positional inaccuracy? Mt was Ccortainly very wellknown to ir that with the two bishops you need to open lines. Yes, but the move made complies with another important principle: in the endgame use your king actively, and at the very first ‘opportunity bring It closer to the centre’. At first sight itis really not so obvious to which rule preference should be given. The art of positional play consists in correctly understanding the essence of a position, and, in searching for a move, Using those rules, patterns and evalua- tions which conform most exactly to this essence. | have no doubt that many of the positional {ideas described in the book are familiar to you. But developing your mastery consists ‘ot oni in learning new ideas - itis also very {important to train yourself inthe employment fof those already known In the solving of the next exercise you will ‘encounter this very problem, 6-14, How should White continue? In the preceding examples the importance of securely blockading the opponents pawns was emphasised, Therefore 26 9 sug- esis iselt. However, there are no fules without exceptions. Bent Larsen once iron cally remarked that he did not understand ‘why books recommend blockading an iso- lated pawn ~ after all, sometimes it can simply be won, 26 Ont White's plan is clear: the exchange of rooks (on 68, then 163, 1 and possibly ¢3-c4, ‘explting the pin on the ¢-fe, The opponent could have neutralised this threat by 26. Fxet 27 Exot Ko8!?, having in mind the variation 28 £1037! Ses 29 SxcS Exc 30 Eat dd! 31 cxd¢ ES with equality. | would probably have replied 28 lin the hope of 28...9.¢5729 83 with advantage to White. Bul wth his bishop at itis harder for White to develop pressure on the weak d5 pawn, and after 26...415 29 Ded Sed Black is out of danger 6... hs? 27 ixes Exes 28 Edt eb 29 Bea 98 oo late and (in view of the position of the black king on the tle) not so effective as a ow moves eater 30 fxg tags ach aa a2 axa white has won a pawn, but the opponents possession of the two bishops significantly ‘complicates the conversion of the advan: tage 32..n4 33 Oid5 Bed 94 e3 hxgd+ 35 bnxg2 #296 96 b6 67 37 b3 He6 38 Ads, {36 g¢ came into consideration, preparing 39, ys, and if 38..Hed 39 Had. 38..2d6 39 Hd HeS. The further develop iment of events can be seen inthe fist book in this series, Endgame Analysis, in the chapter “The transition into a pawn end game’. a Ee Black to move Black to movea> An Unusual Exchange Many things ave incomprehensible o use, net Because our conceptions are weal, ‘but because these things do not come within our range of conceptions. Kozma Prutkov Sometimes a player dolberately violates well-known principles of positional play, and the reason why he does this is not obvious, In such cases the paradoxical move in tha game creates a strong aesthetic impression (6f course, after the point of it becomes clear, L.Grigorian-Kupreichik Riga 1975 35 6-15, What should White play? Who stands better? It is nat possible to say straight away - you must fist look to soe What the two players can undertake {tis not hard to suggest a pian for improving Black's position, and not just one, For example, 21.147 or 21...We7 followed by 'We8, ..ad8 or ..07-06. There is also @ Sharper try: 21..b5!? (geting rid of the backward b7 pawn), then 22...Ba7! and 23,247 oF 23.8, ‘And what can be suggested for White? He cannot do anything, as long as the opp0- nents powerful light-square bishop domi nates the board. I must be exchanged, and {as s00n as possible, before Black strength- fens his control of the important dS square. For the sake of this exchange White can ‘even allow the broak-up of his kingside pawns. 21 aot The only way of fighting for the initative! 1 should temind you that we have already encountered a similar unusual exchange in the chapter ‘Undermining Pawn Moves’ in the analysis of one of the Kholmov-Suetin ‘games. 22 Sixds Wrd5 23 x07 is threatened 21, 8x18 22 gxf3 suggest sel, but then BBiack has to take measures against d4-a5— 6. nthe evantof22...1Wd5 23 2x67 Wri3a very tense situation arises: the white king i ‘expo8ed, buton the other hand the d-pawnis. ro longer blockaded and may rush forward at any moment. But does Black have any choice? Yos, ho does. | gave several of my pupils this position to play, and Sergey Dolmatov, Vadim Zviagintsev and Viorel Bologan sug: gosted the cautious 21..16!? They were prepared to block in ther dark-square bishop for the sake of maintaining the biockace of the d-pawn. Inallthe games White continued 22 Wed (with the positional threat of 23, Bx0d8+ Wrds 24 West Wes 25 Exes) 22...06 (22..s24712) 23 Rib. The pressure on the b-fle is unpleasant, but Black's postion Is nevertheless quite defensible. - RD ai x13 22 gts Was ‘Other attempts to counteract d4-d5, involv- ing attacks on the c5 pawn, also come into consideration. 22,.8c7?! 23 Wed, and i 23..06 24 a5 with ‘advantage. Stefan Kindermann tied 23..b6!? ‘against Phlpp Schlosser. How should White ‘continue? In the event of 24 65 Wes!? 25, Wacs bxo5 28 ixo7 18 27 d6 x07 28 Exo? (28 dxe7 15 29 a7 17) 28..<818 an almost equal ending arises. The game went 24 Sx07 bxcS! (less. good is 24,18 25, B06 Sxd6 26 cxd6 or 24..Ha7 25 cxb6 ‘Wrb6 26 c6) 25 d6, and now 25...c4! 26, 16 Wa? would have led to an unclear game. However, White could have playad more accurately and retained the better position: 24 06! Wxc6 25 ds and 26 xe7. 22...H817 23 Wes (unfortunately, the tempt Ing 23 057! is refuted by 23..2xc5 24 06 Bc3I, 0.9. 25 Wed Zxot 26 47 Ens(c4) 27 ‘oxoes Wee) 23..Wa5 24 Wes 06 with a roughly equal game. 23 x07 wera lHnow 24 Wed, then 24... but not 24 ‘Wye3? 25 Hxe3 n6 26 Moot £1827 8x8 sbf8 28 85, and Rlack’'s postion is uneasy 24 Host a 6-16. How should Black continue? lam not convinced thatitis possible to give a clear-cut answer here. Make your choice, ‘and then compare it with the variations analysed below. Perhaps the mast unfortunate continuation was chasen by Viktor Kupreichik, He was (greedy, forgot about the biockade and {grabbed the a3 pawn. The passed d-pawn ‘advanced, and soon it was all over. 24,..8hxa3? 25 a5 Wd 25 d6 Wa7 27 Raat 5 28 E13 We6 29 Kees a4 30 Eas Wa 31 x7! a3 32 Wa5 hs 33 216 Wod+ 34 Rigs Wes 25 fixg7+ dg6 96 BBs. Black resigns. ‘Also_dublous is the provocative move 24,.2acB?!, hoping for the carelass 25 05? Eye7! 26 Wxe7 Wo4s wen White has to ‘agree fo a draw, since moving the king into the contre in such a situation is too danger- ‘ous. But the simple 25 Wy2! Wig2+ 26 shag? 16 (26..Hc7 27 S08 Exot 28 Hxet) 27 Suxt8Hx01 28 Fxe1 dex 29 se leads 10 ‘200k ending that is dificult for Black Sorious consideration should be given to the ‘exchange sacriice 24..2ixe7!? 25 Wxe7 Wide 26 st WH! (26.2404? 27 Bho7 Wn3+ 28 shot! Wats 29 sont) 27 whee Wade 28 wea Whs+! (more accurate than 28, n6s 29 vies Wiss 30 de2) 29 13 (29, Sede xd4) 29...4n6+ 90 sho? Wo2+ 31 baa “Watar 32 We2. How should the resulting sharp station be evaluated? 1 don't know. I prefer the unusual idea found by grandmas: ter Klaus Bischott 24 1517 Backs intending to bring out his king 0 17 or play 25...8145. And he will meet the obvious 25 d5 with 25...J4c3!, forcing White either to agree to a draw after 26 Bit Hxe7 27 Wxe7 ‘Wigs, oF to sacritce the exchange: 26 dé Bxet 27 Hxet Now Black loses after 27..Wgds? 28 Bagaa fug4 29 67 Txe7 (9..818 30 xf8 or immediately 30 Rbt; 29.417 30 dxes Ws Hxe8 31 ob! bxc6 32 bs; 29..1ebs 30 ‘2.9517 0 31 He7 he 32 4/6) 30 Fixe7 18 31 Han? Hoe 32 vege dege 33 Ke7 sets 34 FloB.! Rxo8 35 dxeaW + x08 36 sbg3 a7 37 drxgd seo 98 digS sexc5 99 x96 D5 40 {41 and the white pawn queens with check [A sound detence is offered by 27..Ead8! followed by ..Hd7 or Wg4+. But also possible is 27.,W05!? 28 hd Hac8! (too passive is 26. Rad8 29 nS WI7 30 e5) 29 nS ExeS 30 hxg6 Fed! 31 gxh7+ sbxh7, ‘and White has only a draw. 25 West? Wes! Much weaker js 25..Wxe3 26 Txes st7 (26..2h6 27 Reel) 27 66. 2 wre or 27 bt? ‘A clever attempt to create an attack, sug: (gested by Vadim Zviagintsev. The exchange (f queens on d6 suggests ise, butt only leads to a daw. 27 Wo8 Wid 28 cxd6 ski6(t8) 29 Hct x07 30 Bc7 Rad8, or 28 Sixd6 Exel + 29 Hot Gxd4 (29.68!) 30 He7+ ste 31 Bxb7 2s. a. Bae? 27.047! 28 Wad Sxd4 29 X37 leads toa fcuk endgame for Black, but 27..Sxd4 is quite possible. In the variaions 28 Hodt Bixe7 29 Hxe7+ dixe? 90 Hxdd Wics 31 ot Was or 28 Wha £g7 29 Ebdi (29 Bxb7 8) 29. Ws 30 7 seg8 it would appear that White is notable to give mate 28 Exo7+ sbxe7 29 Wers et 30 Exb7 fixes 31 Wers cr 32 Wxh7+ ore 33 We7+ 0733 Wins de8 34 Wrg6+ se! 33 ego 3a Har Wea! ‘The game should probably end in perpetual check. Makarychev ~ Ovoretsky Moscow Championship 1972 1 6 2 at 5 3 Ge2 516 4 85 a7 5 6 Every player has his opening tastes. in closed postions I often chose plans involv ing the exchange of my ‘bad bishop. In the French Defence I liked to play ..b7-b6 and. ‘S.e8-a6. Against 1 d4 sometimes usedio reply 1...c5 2 d5 @5 3 24 d6 followed by ‘Ge7-95, and it White prevented the ‘exchange by 13, then 94, .Six13 and nevertholess..£¢7-g5, Such a voaiment of the opening involves a considerable risk — Black falls behind in development and can ‘come under a postional squeeze ora direct attack, But if he succeeds in defending himsalt, there is a chance of obtaining a strategically favourable middlegame or an advantageous endgame where the oppo- nent has a bad bishop, 6 dts er RR 7 ns White takes into account his opponents intentions and does not hurry with the development of his light-square bishop, in order to exchange on a6 without losing a tempo. tis important to note that in such positions Black should play fda ony with Fis pawn atc7. The pointis that ater 7..c5?! White has the highly unpleasant reply 8 a4! Ba6 9 55 (or 8 DS! a6 9 a4) After the ‘xchange on b5, the pawns at eS and b5 take away all the squares from Black's knights. He is obiged to eliminate tho pawn ‘atbS:..a7-a6, ..Wc7 and ..4a7, but during this time White prepares an attack on the kingside. 7 a6 8 Gxa6 xa 9 Was Sergey Makarychev immediately attacks the knight, in order to prevent the plan which, as he knew, | had carried out several times in similar positons: ..c7-c5, ..Ac7, at some pint ..f7-15, nd from c7 the knight defends the weak e6 pawn, 9. abs 10 Gigs White wants immediately to explot his lead indevelopment, but | think thatthe simple 10, (0-0 would have been even more unpleasant for Black, 10 218 ns x95 12 dixgs ‘wor 13 Gre 46 14 aha Now, of course, 14..95? is not possible in view of 15 hs. The clever try 14.157! (in Otder to answer 15 exf6 with 15...951 is too Fishy: after 15 g4! g 16 hs Qn7 17 x's White nas a powerful attack. | preferred a mare reliable continuation. 1“ bg Q 6-17. What would you recommend for White? ‘The bishop sacriice 15 57 xh is, of course, incorrect. 15 Sg3 Dxté 16 xia |e6 oF 18 x96 fig6 followed by .. 6 leads procisoly tothe type of position that | was hoping for, In choosing the given ‘opening variation: White's attack comes to an end, and his bad bishop remains, Makarychev found the only way of maintain ing his fading initiative, 15 gal! ‘White has defended his bishop and wants to place his knight on 5, where it will be ‘extremely dangerous. Attor 15..0-07 16 ‘Dy itis dificult to parry the threat of 17 6. Tho variation 15.,£5¢6 16 hs 8 also dia ‘not inspire me: Black's rooks ara cliscon- ‘nected, and he allthe ime has to reckon with sacrifices on 16 and g7. Therefore the ‘exchange of knights is practically forced, But then the g-e is opened, the bishop remains fon the h-d8 diagonal, and the Black king is stuck inthe centre of the board, 6B. Oxta 16 Deb 7 96 18 ENTa ‘A poor place forthe rook, but Black had no choice. i 18..598, then 19 Whs or 19 Who ‘is very strong, 1 he ‘This move was made ‘on general grounds! AAs will be seen from what follows, itis by no ‘means indisputable. i) ae hs 2 5 ‘A tempting pawn sacriice. But also quite (good was the simple 20 0-0-0 2e7, and now either 21 sebt, or 21 x07 dex07 (21..ix077 2215) 22 dt, intending c3-c4 {or even immediately 22 c4 Wc67! 23 $21), 2... exis 21 000 Sas 22 xd8! Makarychev does nat want to allow the knight 10 go to €6, but the bishop was pressing very strongly on Black's positon, ‘reventing the rook at h7 from coming into play, and so he should not have parte with it +50 readily. The simple 22 debt es 23 Kez Uolowed by Het and ©3-c4) would have Fetained the advantage for White. Also possibleistheimmediate 22 c41? 623 1, Intending Hd? and Hct (bad is 23..cxo4? 24 5) Rowe Bxds2t 22..sexd8 was sounder. was aad of 23.64 06 24 dhb!, but ater 24...c8 25 Het &b7 Black is alright 23 6! x0 24 Bxgs wer 25° dot wear 26 Wea Wer 27 W647 Nothing was achieved by 27 Wes Be (or 27.96). The most dangerous for ‘Back ‘was 27 a6! Wand 28 Wya7, keeping the black king in the contre of the board. Incidentally, both inthis variation, and in the ‘game continuation, tne drawback to the Position ofthe pawn at hd is seen, 2 ees 23 Wic6. sep 29 Wes ‘Wana At ast me black king fees sate. it was tne for White to force a draw by 30 8 Wits 31 ‘tib1 ng 32 Ban Hxhd 53 BgB+ Bxg8 38 Wigs sb7 95 Wass. 30 Wxt57! hho 31 Be ‘whe 32 Was hart chances of success after 32..2018. For example, 33 97? Wa} Wig? Riga, 33 Wo2t Wg 34 Bxg2 Draw.a Mistakes, Mistakes. tis easier to perceive error than to tind truth forthe former lies on the surface and is ‘easily seen. while the latter es inthe depth, where fow are ving to search for it Jonann Woltgang von Goethe For a long time | have been collecting examples of instrucive mistakes, and | readily make use of tham in articles, books, fF lessons with pups. The point is thal when studying a game, many strong moves seem completely natural and therofore do ‘not draw attention or engrave themselves in the memory. Whereas the discovery of a ‘mistake immediately generates an interest in the situation on the board. We seek the strongast move, analyse its consequences, ‘compare them with that which occurred in the game, and ponder over the possible reason for the mistake committed Dotmatov - Razuvaev 47th USSR Championship, Minsk 1979 a 16-18, Should White exchange queens? Iti not so easy to evaluate the postion. Is, the bishop at a7, shut in on the queenside, 00d or baa? If Black succeeds in intensly ing the pressure on da, itwillbe an important attacking piece. Otherwise the bishop will remain locked out of play. First let us see how the game developed. 21 Wo2 6 22 g4 Wo6 23 bé KI7 24 23 Hate 25 h2 hs 26 gxhS Wrxhs. Its now ‘obvious thatthe initiative has been seized by Black~ he is pressing both inthe centre, and ‘on the kingside, 27 Was Ce7 28 Titi Wha 29 Lxt7 Kxt7 30 Hat 0631 Wa2 Wigs 92 itt Wg6 93 £127 RIG! 34 Whe Hxa3, and Black soon won. When we analysad the game, Dolmatov and Ticame to the conclusion that the retreat of the queen to d2 was a mistake, allowing the ‘opponent to retain contol of the light squares. White should have exchanged ‘queens: either immediately, or after making the eccurate move 21 Kodt!? 21 WxtsI? exts In reply to 21..J0x'5 White intends g3-o4 ‘and h-h4-n5, gaining space onthe kingside ‘and restricting the mobilty of the opponents pieces, in particular his knight. But in so ‘doing he must seriously reckon with the exchange sacrifice on 13. 22 hat Its important to blockade the opponents kingside pawns, as otherwise, ater playing 22..95, Black wil be threatening by ..95-4 to harass the knight al {3, and this means ‘also the d4 pawn ~ the main support and at the same time the main weakness of White's position 2. Be - Rd @6-19, What should White play? Having defended his c7 pawn, Black now wants to transter his knight to e8. To parry the opponent's positional threat, Write has to decide on a radical measure — the sacrifice ofthe exchange. 23° Bes! The same reply, but with even greater strength, would have followed alter 22,6, 23 xcs 24 ket bs 25 bs 25 Hxcé Hxb2 26 Hxas SLb6 27 n5!? would appear to be weaker ~ White wins a pawn ‘but allows the opponent to activate his pieces. 3. bs 26 rai? ‘The king wants to go to 43, to support the dé pawn (in accordance with Nimzowitsch: the fover-protactian of important points}. Then the bishop will move to 2, and at the frst convenient opportunity the pawn will ad vance to WS... f26...25, then 27 202 a4 28 bb. The awkward position ofthe bishop at a7 guarantees White full compensation forthe Sacrificed exchange. ” Had Dolmatov played 21 Redt or 21 Bx, In our analysis of the game we would probably have skipped over this moment, ‘without paying any attention to it. But he made a mistake, which served as a stimulus for analysis, enabling the position to be analysed more deeply, and instructive ideas Concealed init to be revealed, Ehlvest - Andrianov Bukhara 1981 1 a6 O16 2 of <6 3 ts bs 4 8 a6 5 Ws White has chosen a comparatively rare Variation (usually 5 b3 or 5 @bd2 is played) Theory considers 5..Dc6 to be the best reply to it. 5.08 also comes into considera: tion, 5 as 6 exas exds 7 3 her 8 ge oo 9 00 6 10 B05 ‘A natural, good move, However, it was also worth thinking about another plan, typical of such positions: 10 £49517, then Zifet, Hadi ‘and 2e5, intending a possible S.xf6 and 2 4. And if 10.204, then 11 Zxed dxo4 12 fixe7 Wre7 13 GieS with advantage to White. wo. war? 10._2b7 followed by 11. bd7 is sounder. n bs An attompt to obtain counterplay. Black vacates the b6 square for his queen and propares by ..5-b to dive the knight from 3, hindering the opponent's thematic can: tral advance e224, 2 a3 ‘wee?!RL ‘Nikolai Andrianov consistently carries outhis, plan, However, as was shown many years later by grandmaster Etienne Bacrot, Write ‘could now have gained a great advantage with the unexpected 13 @xdSt! oxdS 14 ‘WsdS. The attompt by Black to initiative complications by 14..Axe5 15 tre5 bal? does not save him: 16 Was Brd4+ (no botter is 16..bxa3 17 £e3 axb2 18 Rabi) 47 ht (17 03 Wres 18 12 bxa3 19 WS fs also strong) 17...ixe2 18 Het brad 19 Wea! | should mention that @ similar idea would also have worked a move earlier: 12 2x5! (instead of 12 a3) 12...xd5 19 @xt7! Ext? 14 x5, Not noticing the combination, Jan Ehivest ‘makes a logical developing move. 13 Rest? ‘White temporarily blocks the path of his e= pawn, but he wants to withdraw his bishop to {2, after which e2-e4 wil be threatened with even greater force. Such a strategic concep: tion is by no means new, and it occurs in ‘many openings. Grunfeld Detence: 1 44 16 2.04 g6 3 99 06 4B18 Lig? 5 2g? 05 6 cxd5 cxd5 7 Ded 0-082105 6 90-0407 101416 11 ed! pe (11..Oidees; 11.16) 12 22 a7 a (12.. 7) 13.64 207 14 Dua? Wd? 15.65 {Hfc8 16 Rt £18, This was the course taken by the 1st game of the Karpov-Kasparov world championship match (Seville 1987), Byplaying 17 94! Karpov couldhave begun a dangerous attack on the kingside. ‘Tarrasch Defence to the Queen's Gambit: 1 44.45 24)19 05 3.04 6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 93.216 6 Sige do7 7 0-00-08 Acs cb 9 S05 cxd4 104 xd h6 11 £109 Re 12.03 206 19 bh117 This unusual king move was made by ‘Smyslov against Kasparov in the 2nd game (ofthe final candidates match (Vilnius 1984). White is planving the exchange on e6 followed by 12-14, gt and o2-e4, There folowed 13...Wd77! (inthe 8th game ofthe match Kasparov strengthened the variation: 13, gf! 1419 ns 15 ot Wa7! 16 Wad {cS} with chances for bath sides) 14 Zxo6! {x06 15 f4 Feds (15.447 16 ed!) 16 gt ace 17 Wad dhe 16 Zadt Wes 19.4, and White's postion is preferable And here is a slighty more distant ‘rlatve’ of the same idea. English Opening: 1 c# 26 2.203 e6 3 419 b6 4 04 Lb7 5 031? This move was intioduced by Romanishin in a game against Petrosian (43rd USSR Cham- Plonship, Yerevan 1975), which continued Bou 6 (6..08 ie etronger) 6 Sed 5 7 ad cxdd 8 Dxdt Be7 9 0-0 0-0 10 b8 co 11 Sab? a6 12 sbht WC77! (proferabio is 12.807, preparing ..b6-bS) 13 14 Ladd 44 Tict Wa? (14..2d4 15 Wrxad Wes) 15 RG g6 16 45! and White developed a crushing attack 13 Qxe5 14 tes ar 18 2 ba? [Not wishing to concede the initiative to his ‘opponent, Andrianav is the first to inate ‘activity on the queenside ~ however, a the cost of creating pawn weaknesses inhis own postion 16 axbs hea 7 Has xba a 18 Oxast x5 19 Wxa7 x02 20 ter Not 20 &ixa5? Hada, canes Baa. The first halt of the game has been con- ducted quite skiuly by both sides (if one disregards the combination that they over Jooked with the knight sacrifice at d5), but from this point itis as though other players took their place. Mistake began to follow mistake (atid is curious Wa Urey were all on the same theme: the exchange of pieces) ‘Such a picture is typical of many young Players, whose work on chess essentially educes morely to the study of opening theory. AS a result they acquite extensive knowledge and sometimes @ reasonable Understanding of the opening. But the rules that apply in the middlagame or the end: game remain for tham ‘tera incognita’, and in these stages of tne game they fee! much less confident than in the opening, which also inevitably tels on their competitive resuts. aD ‘An indispensable condition tor a player to achieve good and stable results is Serious training work on the study of chess as a whole, and the assimilation of ‘opening theory is onty a part (although a very important part) of this work. Now White should have forced the exchange of queens, by playing 21 Wo6! Aker 21... Whos (21.8404? 22 Bes!) 22 Fxc6 a5 hhe.can choose between 23 Ke7 and 23 Set retaining the better chances in the endgame. Aso interesting is 21 Hc6!?, a move sug. {gested by Viorel Bologan, although to me it seems less convincing, Firstly, the opponent {gains the opportunity to keep the queens on by 21.896, when 22 Exa7? does not work: 22.207 23 Bxads 18 24 BooB 6 25 Exes bn7 26 n3 WaS! True, the simple 22 We7 sets Black problems, since if 22,96, then 23 11! is very strong (but not 23 Hxa7? xa7 24 WxdB+ S18), while i 22...018, then 23 06 fxe6 24 2h3! and the black king Is in danger. Secondly, aftor 21...txd717 22 Hxb6 S.67(f8) tne exchange ‘f queens is carried out in a version that is slightly mare favourable for Black compared with 21 Wes. In the game Ehivest played inaccurately and allowed his opponent to avoid the queen exchange, 21 Wer? ‘Wes! Now 22 Hxa7?? is not possible in view of 22. Hac8, White has already lost his advan: tage. There is nothing more for his queen to dot c7, and it huries back to its own camp. 22 We2 Abs | would have preterred 22...29417 23 et ‘286 nex agra(06-20, Should Black exchange bishops? From the formal viewpoint White's dark- square bishop is ‘baa! (his central pawns are fon squates of the same colour as the bishop), whereas Black's is ‘good’. There- fore the retreat to 18, which occurred inthe game, looks logical But in chess, formal logic is far from always valid. By standing at c3, the bishop securely defends the vuinerable pawns at b2 anc d4, after which White can calmly strengthen his position - the opponent has no counterpay. (As granamaster Mihai Suba pointed out, a bad bishop sometimes defends good pawns.) So as net to concede the initiative, it was essential to exchange bishops and then latch on to the 04 pawn. Let us chock 23..x01! 24 Bxet Hace 25 Wd2 WDE. It now 26 Hact7l, then 26..Hod! 27 Exca. dxc4, while if 26 b3 there follows 26.847! {intending ...06), and 27 $xa571, then the bishop retums to bs. Now, apart rom the afore-mentioned plan ot Etching his oko the king, Whe iso had the unusual idea ol exchanging Ns 92 bishop forthe opponents bad square Bishop. The jseaton forts is exact te ine asin the analy othe exchange on the 2d move: he behop at 4's camentng togoter Black's queenste, and aflr Ie removal Wt wi be abet develop hare a Gangerous tat, by stacking the weak pois st eC and; For exampo, 26 S11? Famar nod once 29os kas 20 xa (29 eat) 29..Wxds 00 Wg2 wih an obvious acvaniage inthe ending. Or 26. lide 27 Shict Hxos 28 Bab and then Heat or Woe ints case Back shes probably assooate his hopes wih fhe undermining move. 7— )\ tel? *'Enivest approached the position in a routine way he Gecded to gel rid of his. “bad bishop. 3. 18? 2a dea. Fj 26 as7t Race 25 Wa2 Of course, not 26...RobB? 27 Fxct, ‘White dd not face any threats, and therefore 27 ba xb4 28 Wxba Habe hie had time forthe gradual switching of his heavy pieces tothe kingside, baginning with the manoouvre Het-03-13. ‘The frlts of White's erroneous strategy are ‘obvious: by doubling ro0ks on the ble and placing his queen on b6, the opponent wants toattack the b2 and dé pawns, and twill not be easy to hold them, ‘When a trainer gives lessons to beginners, he is obliged to explain to them the most important, basic principles (which will cor- tainly include the concept of good and bad bishops) | prefer to work with more highly qualified payors — to them one can tak ‘about more interesting and deeper things, to teach them a concrete approach to every position, and to demonstrate exceptions to the rules. In fact the negation of some obvious rule does not signity that the position is not subject to the laws of chess - it is simply thet other, latent principles and rules are operating. The ‘game we are examining is an instructive ‘example. Standard considerations, involving ‘good and bad bishops, are much tess significant than the seizure of the initiative, ‘and the possibility of being the first to mount ‘an attack on the opponent's pawns. 29 Wen Bb3?! Mogicall Why place the rook on a square where it can be exchanged? 29..21b5! followed by ...bs and ..2b8 suggested set. 30 Ee3 Reba 31 Exb3 Exb3 32 Ret bs 32..1W06? was premature because of 33 xs! 33 Res ‘00 pox agian 6-21. What should Black play? Hore Ancrianov made a positional mistake ~ he allowed his opponent o exchange the last paar of rooks. OF course, he should have st played 93...2b41, intending ..Wb6. Black ‘would have retained the intative in view of the weakness ofthe b2 and d4 pawns, Tive, alter 394 B13! Ws (34.512) 95 Bre it would not have been easy for him to make progress, since he constantly has to reckon with #4 only hs bishop had beon at e6. From here the ‘bad’ bishop would have defended all the important pawns, leaving the heavy pieces free for play on the queenside. m Weer 34 Exbs Was ‘The game has become level. The white bishop is now even slightly better than the ‘opponents (at last it Is possibla, without mistake, to apply the standard evaluation of the strength of the bishops). However, this factor would become perceptible only i it ‘were possible to drive back or exchange the active black queen, But it is not possible to achieve the exchange, and therefore the ‘normal outcome isa draw. 35 te 35 36 he 36 19 and 37 8.1 Is preferable. aes as 37 na saatRb 38 67! eat Black misses an opportunity to again seize the initiative, by playing 3..151 29 exf7+ 39.07 W3s 40 set Wixgs+ 41 ta Wes 42 {2.7 does not work in view of 42...Wbds. 3 seat 40 Wie bg? The number of mistakes that are made on the 40th mava, the last one before the time ‘control! Any other king move would have led to.a draw; only this one loses. 41 he6+ nz 42 Wretst dred 43° Gxbs axb3 44 es Black resigns. Let's now have a litle practice on the theme ‘of exchanging bishops ~ let us try to assess the advisabilty of the exchange in the ‘examples given below. Dvoretsky - Klovans 431d USSR Championship, Yerevan 1975 1 e 5 2 bea 26 3 gs 9s 4 exds Dxd5 5 Boe xed 6 bees Ads 7 abil \When studying this opening variation, leame tothe conclusion that withthe black knight at 6 its better for White to develop his knight at e2, and when itis at d7, then 2s beter. ‘Thus | want to see where the black knight wil 490, But the move ZIbt alsohas a drawback ~ ‘weakens the a2 pawn, 7 6 7.867 is probably more accurate, aiming suibsequenty for ..2b8 and ..b7-06. 8 tt 00 9 oo a7 10 Ret 157! 10.8251? was also worth considering. 1 We2l? 11-317 is also not bad, e.g. 11...Wa5 12 B02 (woaker is 12 b2 Wa? 13 04 Was, 44 Bat Wer) 12..Wxa2 13.4 and Black is in Serious danger. | was concerned about 13...04, butthen the simple 14 2d4 followed by £3 is strong 1" 6 11..04 12 Bde 5 13 d3 or 12.16 13 ‘Weds isto White's advantage, 12 Weds on 12,.<8h8 would appear to be slightly more accurate a as wis Wot 2s 114.5, then 15 2x05! is strong. 18 Wea 4 15,.08 (hoping for 16 dxe4? e6) did not achieve anything because of 16 Dd, of, ‘mote accurately, 16 #d2! Black would have had a dificult position ater 15...L06 16 4 Babs 17 2b2 047 18 dé WI 19 ches Acs, (19..hx04? 20 Wea 7 21 06) 20 Wes e721 Ba3 Aad 22 2.6) 6-10. What should White play? ‘White to moveAdvantage in Space Every cramped positon harbours with it the germ of defeat. SiegbertTarrasch ‘The opening repertoires of modern players Include the Pirc-Ufimisev Defence, the Grunfeld Detence, and many other set-ups which involve conceding space to the oppo" rent. Therefore Tarrasch’s assertion, ike any categorical assertion, today cannot be perceived other than ironically. But it also Contains more than a grain of tuth-itis tue, perhaps not for every cramped position, but for many of them. The side who has an advantage in space can freely manoeuvre with his places, switching them trom flank to tlank, whereas his opponent often lacks scope for manoeuvring, and his pieces hinder ‘one another. From this itis clear that, if you have an advantage in space, it is advantageous to retain as many pieces 28 possible, whereas in a cramped post- tion, by contrast, you should aim for exchanges. Seizure of space is usually secured by ‘advancing your own pawns; in so doing they cease to defend certain important squares In thelr own camp, which In some cases may be exploited by the ‘opponent to develop @ counterattack. Al these considerations are fairly obvious, but in practice even experienced players go wrong, ignoring them o¢ using them insul- Glory skifuly Polovodin ~ Razuva USSR Team Championship, Tiisi 1979 1 04 96 2 dé ig? 3 Of3 d6 4 Des Hite 5 Be? 0-06 0-0 6 7 d5 “bs 8 h3 (6 Het) 8.05 9 dx06 x06 10 sigs he M1 Les e6 12 Wet (12 Waa) 12..5en7 13 Eat Wes (13,..We7!) 14 Oda a7 1514 Hes 16 213. st White controls more space: his pieces and pawns are doployed on four ranks, whereas Black's are only on three. This means that exchanges are advantageous to Black. 16.,Odxd! suggests itso: 17 Sxa4 6.06 18 Hot 07! (proparing 19.8708 or 19..8in8 and 20...ae8) with equality. 6. Ber?! Yuri Razwaev decided to carry out immedi: ately the regrouping of his heavy pieces, suggested in the previous note. But now White has the opportunity to avoid the exchange favouring his opponent by playing 17 Dat (or 17 43402?) tolowed by Het, ‘Wee and so on. In this case his position would have been preferable. Take note: Black’s queen's Knight prevents his bishop from eccupying 8, from where it could attack the e4 pawn, and his king's knight is blocking the diagonal of the other bishop. ‘The knights have no convenient squares to rove 10 ~ afterall, Black is in a cramped postion and he lacks space for manoeu: ving, 17 ds? ‘An astounding strategic mistake: instead of ‘avoiding exchanges, White himselt offers to ‘exchange several more pieces. Now Black's last move i uly ustiied— he carries out the planned regrouping and seizes the initiative, v.. Dxds 18 exds xd 19 axa we 2 3 62 6-22. What should Black play? Black's postion, although good, is stil ery ‘ramped, and so as betore exchanges are ‘advantageous to him, He could have gained the advantage by continuing 20...xd¢e! 21 ‘Bx (21 cxcd W6 flowed by . Rae’ the 7 pawn is immune) 21..Ea08 22 Wd2 Wis, (incidentally the exchange of bishops on ‘could also have been carried out a move earley). Black's lack of space is no longer ‘any problem for him ~ alter the sories of exchanges his remaining pieces are actively placed and excellently coordinate with one another. The advanced placing ofthe d5 and ‘4 pawns does not bxing White any dividends = on the contrary, it creates unnecessary weaknesses. He would ladly agree to tum his t4 pawn to 2, and his 65 pawn to d4 ee aes? a rar Igor Polovadin exploits his opponents error ‘and prevents the exchange of his bishop. As ‘result the black quoen, shut in by the g7 bishop, proves to be temporary out of play The positional mistake mado by Razuvaev is all the more surprising, forthe fact that even after 21 Wa21? the bishop exchange 21 Sixd4+ 22 Wdd would be made ina Significantly less favourable version for him, than after the immediate 20...xd4+! a... as 22 Waa hea In order to gain some squares for his ooks ‘on the hall-open elo, Black is forced to ‘exchange the opponent’ ‘bad’ light square: bishop, which is running up against its own pawn at d. 23 x04 xed 24 Het ee77! A waste of a tempo! The useful move 24,5! should have been made. Now White ‘maintains the balance without dificult, 25 Exed xed 26 Het We8 27 Hed 25 (27..Ex09 28 Wxe3 Ws 29 Wer!) 28 Wa3 x03 29 x03 Wad 30 03 Wh3 31 ct DS 32 12 ba 93 axbé axbé 34 sd? bxc3 35 ‘Gx03 dixed. Draw, ‘Yusupov ~ Lipnowski Winnipeg 1986 1 ot 16 a oll °s 3 ds 6 4 G3 96 5 et ag? 6 fas 00R> 7 Sigea 5 8 one White takes measures in advance against B..2e8 and 9.15. The game Miles-Djindjihashvili_ (Tiburg 1985) wont 8 2ig3 “eB 9 e315 10 ext gxf5 11 14 04 12 Set 06-28. How should Black continue? Whit is intending 13 Ect (or 19 42), and then 5, preparing a subsequent 92-94. Dut Diack hes available & standard strategic procedure, which neutralises the opponent's plan, 12..dix03+! 13 bxod Dg7 14 2 Wis 15 ‘Wa Whé, and the players agreed a draw. The idea of exchanging the King’s Indian bishop in such a position was apparenty fst ‘empioyedin the game Bronstein-Petrosian (Candidates Tournament, Amsterdam 1956): 104 g6 2.Ae3 S.g7 32113 46 4.44 216 5 04 0-06 Se? e5 7 0-0 Abd7 8 Let 06 9 d5 (theory recommends 9 ft) 9..c6 10 a3 eb 1 gS (11 bél2) 11.16 12 a2 15 13 2ag5 De7 14 ext5 xfs 15 14.04 16 she3 6 17 51n3, 17..8.xe3! ‘A very bold and subtle decision. ‘Several arguments in ts favour can be given: firstly, the presence of blocked pawn chains altogether neutralises the strength of the white bishops. Secondly, the knight, which ‘could have assisted the undermining move (92-94, is eliminated. And finaly, and espe- ‘ial important, Because of his own c3 pawn ‘and the enemy cS pawn, White's dark ‘square bishop is prevented trom occupying the a8 diagonal (Lev Aronin), 18 bxe3 BIG 19 a4 GHB 20 BA Bos 21 doht Wes 22 Rigi Wg6 23 Wa2 Sa7 24 g3 Tae8 25 a6 He? 26 Habt iec8 27 Rg2 Reg7 28 bgt Zice8 29 ho hs. Draw. Inthe final position there is very probably some advantage on the side of Black. Fetuming to the opening of the present ‘game, | should mention that 8 2g3 doos not give White anything, But, apart from the ove made by Yusupov, 8 131 (intending 9 (94 or 9 £296) also deserves serious consid eration, leading o a position resembling the ‘Samisch Variation in the King's. Indian Defence ae 208 9 94 wna Threatening 10...xg4. 10 293 16? Blackincoreetly avoids the natural 10.24N6! Possibly he was concemed about 11” &xh6 Wane 12 hd, but after 12...Wha! he would have retained counterplay. 6-24, What should White play? ‘Tha opponent's intentions are clear: he wants to play 11.2495. But itis not hard to prevent the exchange 1 Waal ea? 42° Dati The white queen's move was not only prophylactic ~ it vacated a square for the transference of the knight to the kingside. With a spatial advantage the pieces usually have various manoeuvring possibilities, and itis important to choose the most effective of them, Ro. hs 13 Ges 295 White has a great positional advantage. The {game lasted onl five more moves: 14 We2 14-15 Wis Bite 16 ha hs 17 ets + S18 48 g5!, and Black resigned in view of 18..hxgs (18..Wd8 19 Oxh6) 18 hxgS Eaxhts 20 Wat Sxg5 21 xg5 gs 22 ‘Whe mate. Rp Such a rapid and crushing win does not Usually encourage @ critica atiude to the actions ofthe winner. Even 50 let us analyse the finish ofthe game more carefully, in order to understand why grandmaster ‘Yusupov ‘was not satistiod with his play. 6-25. What should White play? ‘with 14 Bfc3! white would have created the threat of 1592, andin so doing would have prevented the enemy bishop from going to 4 (14.214 15 ge WIG 16 Dxld oxtd 17 Wal6e dixt6 18 &xt4), The opponent would have had to defend a very dilicult postion after 14.2409 oF 14.408, 14 Wer! an Now 15 2 WI6 no longer gives White anything 15 (WES wie 0 6-26. What should White play? The bishop al {4 is the fulcrum of Black's postion. It must be attacked by the knight, but avoiding unnecessary exchanges which ease the defence. The strongest plan is 16 ‘8142! followed by £4c3, dee2 and only then %g2. Black would probably be forced 10 ‘exchange on 93, after which thre is the ‘extremely unpleasant threat of opening the ‘at-hB diagonal by 12-14a 16 hat nat ‘The postion has become more complicated = the opponent wants to play 17.._We7 and 18.46 with counterpay. 17 Qel547t (0.6.27. What should Black play? Of course, 17..9x152 18 DhS+ is not possible. In the ovent of 17...0x15? 18 gxt5 (or 18 ext White has an obvious advantage. We already know that 17...bf82, as playedin 12 game, lases to 18 g6! Only one passe ity remains. 7 segs! Now 18 95 no longer works. Black was probably concemed about 18 @xh6+, buthe ‘Reed not have been! 18 Dxh6+2!—Eixhst Also possible is 18...5.xh6 19 Wx!s Dxf6 20, 95 (20 fixhe ahs 21 95 Hh8 22 gxt6 47) 20.2497 21 gxt6 xf, but the capture with the rook is much stronger. 19 98 20 ee 21 dats 22 gxhe White faces a difficult struggle for a draw. This is what happens i, under the impres sion ofan easily gained advantage, you slop delving into the position and make a few supertcial moves. A cramped position ‘sometimes resembles 2 compressed ‘spring, which is capable of uncolling at ‘any moment! In the following game White exploited his Spatial advantage very convincingly Dolmatov ~ Karolyi European Junior Championship, Groningen 1978 1 et 6 2 46 8 3 Gea 26 4 8s 27 ce) 5 6 26 7 Sats Wes 8 er 9 ns oo ‘The opening variation chosen by Black Involves a serious spatial concession. It must be compensated by something, as ftherwise the opponent will gain a clear ‘advantage. Counterplay may be achieved by undermining the enemy centre. For exam: pi, 8..cxd4 9 oxa4 Sb44- 10 a2 961? often ‘occurs. But the development of the bishop at 67 also has its point, only instead of casting Black should play 9..cxd4 10 xd 161, e.g 11,11 0-0 12 dhg2 g517, oF 11 Bed fees 12 fe5 0-0! (White cannot caste in view of DdveS) 18 Sexo6 dnd 14 Bxo5 Denes! 15 des 2x05 (Lukyanov-Gleizerov, USSR 1996) 10 S02 Was 1 00 206 69 nat diagram (Q.6-28, What should White play? ‘The young Hungarian player wants to com- plate his development vit .d7 and. Rac8, land is hoping 10 create pressure on the {quoenside, where many of his pieces are gathered. But Sergey Dolmatov finds 3 ‘strategic reutation of his opponent’ plan 12 Rr ‘Thenext move willbe 13.21, afterwhich the ‘queen at a6 will begin to feel uncomfortable ” oxdd 13 Gexde Dxas 14 Qada es 16 af 15 631? with the threat of 16 1 is also strong, 6. Was 1% bs Wes 7 aa a7 1B ads A debatable moment, As we have already mentioned, with a spatial advantage one ‘should normally avoid exchanges, Folowing this rule, Dolmatov simply develops his bishops on the active squares d9 ande3. But 18 4.2319, exchanging the opponents ‘good bishop, also had its point RD 8 208 19 deo 207 20 We2 6 The weakening of the dark squares will subsequently tel, but itis doubtful whether 20...toh8 was any better. Now, and on the fnext move, White could again have ex- ‘changed the bishops, by playing 21 @5!? 21 Wa2 D8 2 gf ‘ter completing his development and rein forcing his contre, White begins an attack on the kingside. It can be conducted in various ways 22 h4!?, with the throat of 23 5, was also not bad, Inthe event of 22..hS he would have prepared 99-94, and to ...7-15 he ‘would have replied e816, creating weak pawns in the opponents positon at e6 and faxas 23 exae Dolmatov avoids exchanges and retains the ‘advantage ofthe two bishops. In overwhelm ing positions it is sometimes not easy 0 choose between various good plans, Prob- ably simpler was 23 Sixdél? xdé 24 oxdd (thveatening 2515) 24..15 25 ext6 Bxt6 26 05 ‘and 97 nd Be 6 2a Hatt 157! ¥24,..ie7 Black was apparently concemed about 25 1512 But now his position becomes completely hopeless, 25 gxts xls Aor 25..gx15 26 Rg2+ h8 Black would hhave had to reckon with S12-h4, exploiting the weakness of the dark squares. 26 a2 WerRD 6-29. What should White play? “The most natural plan isthe advance of the pawn to nS, then he and t2-h4, With his last move Tibor Karolyi not only prevented h2-n4, but also created the threat (never forget about ‘prophylactic thinking!) of 27...WBb4. The exchange of queens is unde: sirable for White, but his b3 and 4 pawns ‘are under attack. With a series of excellent manoeuvres Dolmatov suppresses the opponent's coun: terplay and docisivoly arengthons his post tion. In such cases, as Nimzowitsch re: marked: ‘.. the attacker relies mainly on his territorial superiority — on the supe- rior state of his lines of communication. ‘The gameis lost, Because at some point it proves impossible for the dotender to keep pace with his opponent in the rapid regrouping of his forces." 27 ent ‘A multi-purpose move! Now after 27..,b4 tore is the simple reply 28 Wa3, and it 28...2).a5?! 29 de. From e2 the bishop wil Suppor the offensive on the kingside, and from here it can goto 13, attacking the weak 5 pawn. Wwe acs 2 a Thveatening h2-h4-h6, 2B on 29 gst 29 #2! is incortect In view of 29...n5, blocking the kingside. Therefore White makes a change to his pian, He wants to play Th3, attacking the h7 pawn ard preparing Sha. In addition (in the event of Wb) he strength ‘ens his queenside ~ the 63 pawn and the c3 square Buta diferent approach to the position can ‘also be made. 29 Wa1!? was very strong, Creating the threat of 30 ha nS 31 Lxhs. ‘ym ‘hes 30 hs eB Q.6-30. What should White play? 31 Sind? is premature in view of 31... ba. 31 Bett Here itis, the freedom of communication with 2 spatial advantage! White docs not confine himself othe kingside alone, but makes use of the whole board. He again threatens 32 hd (because of the pin on the crfle, the reply ..,Wb4 is not possible), and 31.07 32 Sind Wha 33 Wxos Zixb4 34 6+ is bad for Black. A new threat is also created: an — i S24 attack on the d5 pawn by cS and £3 at war 32 Res 07? Fiightened by the prety threat of 33 Exd5, Black gives up his 7 pawn, which is ‘equivalent to capitulation. It is well known that ‘he threat is stronger than its execu tion’, He should have played 32..n8, setting tis opponent a positional trap: the tempting 133 Hxd521 leads after 39..Whd5 34 Lcd Be? 35 Sxd5+ 2x05 to a position in which Black retains definite compensation for the lost material. Dolmatov would have probably replied 33 2.051? with a great advantage, 33. Exh? air 34 bs ‘Wes 35 Exes Wes 36 Bhs “There is nothing more for the rook to do on. the kingside, and it instantly switches to the queenside 36 26 av tt War 38 hd Bes, 39 Bea er 40 35 White does not hurry — frst he makes al the useful moves. and only then does he begin decisive action. 0 .. x3 a1 Wea Wes 42 Wha ge 43 WIS ‘ker 44 dB war Black resigns. The finish could have been as follows: 45 st2 Wes (45..0h6 46 n3; 45..)07 46 Wro7s Wre? 47 2x07 x07 48 d2g3 followed by ht-g5) 46 02 Wa7 47 ba Ws 48 na Wa7 40 b5! axbs 60 xb 6 White to move White to moveRe Routes for the Rook You should realise that a thorough acquaintance with one of the elements 1s more effecve in the sense of improving your positional feeling, than a superficial acquaintance with all ofthe oloments ‘Aron Nimzowitsch {nthe opaning the two players fist develop their minor pieces, castle, and only then comes the time for the cooks. Usually they are deployed on the central files, preferably on open files The rook is a strong piece, capable by its inclusion of substantially influencing the charactar of the play Dyoretsky ~ Bykov 35th USSR Championship, Kharkov 1967 1 of 05 2 013 ics 3 bs a6 4 Lad as 5 xcs bxo6 6 dé {6 7 shed e7 8 cd Zg6 9 Wa2 Le? 10 0-0-0 0-02! (10. S.0617) 11 ha e871 (11.294 12 h5 na) 12 nS ©f8 13 We2! La7 (tne only defence against 14 Wods and 14 dxaS txe5 15x05) 14 Weas O06. Alter 14.. Soxr? (15. 16 Wns sige 17 Wats th7, and White has only perpetual check For tho moment the rook al ht is not partepatin in the allack — it must be brought into play via ht-3-03 14 Bhs! Now Black shouidhave dotandedby 14.68 15 igs hs 14 ast! 06-33. What should White play? The sactifice on h7 stil does not work. 15 '1g3! suggests set, but then tha opponent forces the advantageous exchange of bish- (ps by 15,..24051 It's important to pay this positional threat 15 ofl Even when attacking you should not forget about prophylaxis! 15 Wes, 16 Eg3 te 7 Ket By supporting the knight at 65, White prepares 18 Qxf6 ixi6 19 WhS. For example, 17..05 18 &xt6 Saxt6 (18.9116 19 Woe) 19 Whs x05 20 Exe5 with vory dangerous threats. Black no longer has any Rp satistactory defence. {tor the game Yuri Razuvacy, a well-known, ‘expert on the opening, asked me for my scoresheet in order to Copy the moves. He Considers it useful to collect and to study “model games, typical of the opening varia- tions that he adopts, in which their strategic ‘and tactical ideas are prominently displayed. ‘Apparently my game seemed to him to be ‘very appropriate, | would also recommend the readers to use tis method of working on the opening. 0.6.34. How should the attack be contin- ued? The situation resembles that which was reached aftor Black's 19t move in the previous game ~ a piece sacrifice (inciden- tally, on the same square h6) worthy crowns White's offensive 18 Sxnst oxhe 19 az The variations are easy to find: 19.806 20 Wnée he7 21 BqGe! or 19.298 20 Exgee! doxga 21 WxN6 and wins, 19 Wa 20 Wines. es 21 Bez 6RD The threats of 22 Wg7 and 22 Wh8+ are Irresistible. The attempt to ‘play for briiancy’ 21 Wh8+ 518 22 Wx16? Beets 23 dee2 did ‘not work in view of 23...La4+ 24 b3 We3+ 25 dea Wat + 26 se? Wears 27 13 S.c6+ 28 tiga Ba. ae 210 22 Wxte ‘Wer 23 Whe Black resigns. “The inclusion ofthe rook along the 3rd rank in such positions i$ a standard technique. ‘The folowing example i less stereotyped. Dvoretsky — Kurajica ‘European Champions’ Cup, Solingen 1976 1 of s 2 os Des 3 abs 6 4 x06 xc67! 4..bxc6 is stronger ~ in the opening pawns ‘should capture towards the centre. 5 00 207 6 a3 B96 7 85 6 Cleady, thie undermining move would bo more effective if the b7 pawn were at d7. a Bet fe? 9 af Its tempting to prevent the black king from casting by 8 exI6 gxf6 10 M6, but ator 10...05 and 11...B98 the situation is unclear. When the opponent has two bishops, one should be cautious about opening the position o . 00 10 &c3 40 Saal? looks more natural. | was con- cerned about 10..fxe5 11 Dot 216 12 Bifxes Oxe5 13 2x05 Sexes 14 Fixes Fx), but instead of 12 txe5?, stronger is 12 ‘2.021, preparing 19.03, 10 ‘Wer un thez nent 11.06 was preferable 2 a5! While there is time, it makes sense to seize space on the queenside. Rn. sar 13 Baz 7 Exchanges inthe contre are unfavourable or Black: 13.105 14 Sixes Axes 18 Wes 206 16 Wns. He wants to double rooks on the File, directing them at the £2 pawn, and only then take on e5, 6-35. What should White play? White has developed all his pieces apart from his queen's rook. Where should he place it? Of course, on an open line! An ‘open line for a rook may be not only a file, but also sometimes a rank 4 Rast Rate 15 oxté oxt6 16 Dna The knight at g6 deprives the rook of important squares on the 4th rank, and in order to exchange it White is even prepared to make a positional pawn sacrifice. After 16..2)xh4 17 Fixha WaaS (17.15 18 Zh6) - RS 18 Ded (18 ns! with the treat of 19 ho would appear tobe even stronger) 18.8 19 dicd the actly of the pieces provides suficient compensation. White is threaten- ing 20 095 or 20 Bh6 and 21 hs (also aiming atthe cS pawn), I ..e6-28 there i aways 2-14 “The plan of attack chosen by White also has a'psychologeal basis. Bojan Kurajica is an Aggressive player, who feels confident in postions where he has the iniatve. He does not tke defending. Therefore it was imporanttormeto seize the native, and fotes the opponent ono the defensive. ae 05 17 Bago bhxgs 3 ‘This undermining of the enemy centre is again carried out thanks tothe rook, 8 671 Now Black is deprived of the two bishops, ‘and a difcult position for him with opposite colour bishops is reached. 18..ext4 was bette, although even in this case White has the advantage. 19 Ges ext 20 Oxas xa 2 axa was 2 wR My advantage is determined by the fact that the white king is safe, whereas this cannot be said about Black's. tis well known tha, with opposite-colour bishops in the middle: ‘game, an attack on the king can be ‘especially dangerous. Since my opponent is. ‘not able to do anything, have tme to calmly improve the placing of my pieces. Rae 5 2 kao eg? 2 hes g6 25 Heed {AtTast the rooks are connected on the open filet 25 was o 2% hs My attention was focused on the kingside, ‘and therefore | missed an opportunity 10 strike on the queenside: 26 b4! ones b6 27 bs Ene 28 Hes Ente 29 Ets He7 6-36, What should White play? {nthe event of tho exchange on @7, White's advantage is reduced, But 30 2f1 {5 is also Unconvineing since tis not easy to dematish the black king's pawn screen: if 31 h4 there follows 31...08, and if 31 g4~ 31.14 After thinking fora few minutes, | found the ‘strongest continuation ofthe attack: 30 Hed! Now 30... xed is bad in view of 31 dxed with the terrible threat o32 65. Andif30..15 there {ollows the murderous undermining move 31 ha, when 31...94 is not possible in view of 32 Hage After coming to the decision, | made my move and... discovered to my horror that, instead of moving to e4, for some reason the rook had taken on a7. This happened to me for the only time in my ite. Without delving into a detailed analysis (or ‘even a psychoanalysis) of what happened, |should mention that @ player is guaranteed ‘against such ridiculous happenings, only when he iin excellent form, and physically ‘and psychologically fully prepares. For cor tain reasons my condition at that moment was, alas, too far away from the ideal 30 Bxe7? Wre7 31 Bes was 32 We2 BI Whit stil has the initiative, butt is now hard for him to approach the opponent's king. Under the impression of what had happened, | was unable to concentrate, and the game ‘s00n ended in a craw, Black to move Black to move White to move ~ RD Don’t Forget About Prophylaxis! Chess is a game that demands clear, logical thinking. Yetim Gotter ‘The topic of prophylaxis is probably present in every book of mine, it being usualy a {question not of prophylactic moves, but of ‘prophylactic thinking’. What ! understand ‘by prophylactic thinking is the habit of constantly asking yourself what your ‘opponent wants to do, what he would play tit were him to move, and the ability to find a reply to this question and to take account of it in the process of taking a decision. ‘The second part of this formula s ofa purely chess nature, The search for the best move for the opponent may be dificult to a lessor (oF greater degree, but these are normal chess difficulties. Nis another matter with the very haait of thinking about the opponent's. intentions —here we encounter a psycholog} ‘cal problem. After al, by nature a person charactedstcaly concentrates mainly on his ‘vn plans, thoughts and feelings. About our opponent {and in chess our epponent has, fuly equal rights) we too often forget, and sometimes we deservedly pay for this. This is why the development and portection of prophylactic thinking guarantees arise in the level of mastery ofa player and the stability fis play, and assists a rapid improvement in is results In the folowing game for along time there was a double-edged struggle, and the evaluation of the postion oscillated around dyramicbalance, Butthen atone point Black. suecesstully made use of prophylactic think ing, te opponent was unable to respond in the same way, and the outcome was quickly decided 69 Gik — Dvoretsky Moscow 1972 1 ef 6 2 6 s 3 Os De6 4 98 96 sas? exd4 6 Bxas 36 Late | found a dangerous rejoinder to the opening varation chosen by White: 6.297! 7'Ob5 5 B exd5 exd5 9 WhdS Were! 10 522 Sgt with an initiate, fly compensa ing for the sacriiced pawn. This is al quite logical: in order to exploit the opponent's delay inthe opening (02-04 in two steps) Black should play as energoticaly as possi bie, aiming to open lines. 7 et Playing Whito in this postion, 1 profrred 7 2g? Rg? 8 Ax06 bees (ater 8..cdc6 9 ‘WrdBe x46 10 2! the dark squares on the queenside ae realy 100 weak) 9 0-0 2e7 10 Bast I now 10..0-0, then 11 Dest with unplaasant prassuro on the opponent's postion (weaker's 11 c47! aS and 12..La6) tn tho game Dvoretsky-Filipowiez (Vara 1980) Black replied 10..aS, 86 no daxgarya 26.37, Decide on some promising possi- bilities tor White. Exercises o this type develop the abilly, one thats very important for every player, to find all the candidate moves that make sense. White can achieve a positional advantage Perhaps in nt just one way, but nevertheless certainly not in any way. For example, the routine 11 42? does not promise anything in view of 11..&65 12 Waa a5 13.013 Bibs, Much stronger is 11 123} ses (11..Wes 12, Dod) 12 Wdt! (weaker is 12 Wa37! 06 13 a2 Wo7, but corious consideration should be given to 12 £a2I? dxa6 13 x5 xa 14 bad with the better endgame) 12.45 13, x05 cxdS 14 Qiod! Now itis clear why the queen had to retreat to dt. | chose another plan, also not bad ~ transposing into an ending: 11 £.d2t Wes 12 Wxo5 fixe5 13 f2c3 inc3 14 Oixc3 o5 15 a4 Zb8 16 b3.In the opponents position the dark squares are weak. White develops his rooks at d1 and c1, advances c2-e4 and ‘gains the advantage. Too. Ag? a Bxes Hogicai! f White is going to exchange on 06, Why move the pawn to 04? However, ater 8 8.23 WI6'? Black would nevertheless have 7” forced the exchange of knights 8 x6! ‘Alter c2c4, weakening White's postion, has ‘been played, the exchange of queens leads to favourable ending for me 9 We s 10 Gea Ser 11 gst Tho knight is aiming to occupy 64 this plan ‘must definitly be opposes. " We77! | undorestimated my opponent's strong reply. 11..Was should probably have been preferred — after al, the exchange on 67 is. Pot at ll dangerous for Black 12 tat Wes ‘The primitive 12..0571 13 Be3 would have led to a somewhat inferior position, while 12..4e5? would have been a serious mistake in view of 13 Sxe5 WyeS 14 14 {allowed by 04-08 and Ded, 13 Wate Evgeny Gik begins pursuing the rook at a8 and in the end he catches it, but Biack finds ‘adequate counter-chances. 13 0-0-01? cb +14 8.46 would have led to complicated play. Bo. ‘eas - RD 14 Das ae 15 Obs Sas 16 er es! Not 16.2627 17 Hat! dd 18 Sxoe séx08 19 Dxa7, when White remains the ‘exchange up. Therefore lam notin a hurry to pick up the enemy pawns, but, in giving up my rook, | ty in tum to trap the over advanced white knight a b6. 17 x8 skxas 18 00+ fae Unfortunately, 18..s8¢7 isnot possible because af 19 id5¢! But now the opponent has the opportunity to save his knight by @ counter exchange sactiice on d. 19 age 19 Bxd4u!? exdé 20 243 came into consid- eration ones weer 20 fixes Not 2054? exd5 21 cxd5 Labs 22 (4H. a... oxde a 3 5 2 Tet 6 6-38, What should Black play? For the moment my rook is not taking part in the play. Where should ibe used? It would n bbe good to play ...R7-h5-h4, but ater 22,..N5 the opponent replies 231n4. On the d file there is nothing for the rook to do Black's passed pawn can be blockaded by the king from d2, The rook can be placed on #8, inorder to press on the Fie, but White advances his pawn to 14 and there is no Jonger anything to press on. ‘The idea springs to mind of preventing the important defensive move 12-F41 tt looks tempting to play 22...4 (or 22..hS 23 H4 14), since 23 x4 H1B is clearly to Blacks advantage. However, then the opponent strongly activates his game by 23 £3! This ‘means that Black must show more restraint. Row. 98! ‘The next move wil be 8, when 12-F4 will ‘90 longer felp White at ail ~ after the ‘exchange on {4 the pawn there will become ‘even more vulnerable than it was at 12. ‘The game concluded very quickly — within a couple of moves Gik hopelessly spoiled his position, which, generally speaking, is al- most equal, If one considers why this happened, the only explanation to be found is his lack of prophylactic thinking, 23 ant? My opponent improves. his. position — he Unpins his e4 pawn. But he undertakes absolutely nothing against Black's strategic thveat, ‘Butwhat should he have done? will suggest ‘one possible solution (not the only one, | think) ~ remove the pawns from the second rank, where the black rook will invade, and strengthen the quoenside by 23 ba!? 318 24 223! Alter 24,..xe8 25 &-xed Fixf2 26 xe >xe6 (tis important that after 26...<2xc6 the ‘eS pawnis defended, andthat ater 26...2xc6 the 4 pawn is defended) 27 Zxe6 White, who has avalable the active possibilties 28, Hes, 28 dé and 28 2.d5+, maintains the balance without diicuiy. 23 rea 2 4? An absurd move, which makes things signif- ‘cantly easier for me. 24 oxi 25 gxta 296 26 exis xfs Under attack snot only the f4 pawn, but also the cS pawn, and this means also the white ight. Black gains a material advantage and easily converts it 27 ba Dxtd 28 dd? Bhs 29 dexe8 Zxhae 30 dedt stxe6 31 Ted 05 32 Exes “da 33 He6+ dibs 34 a3 a5 35 buaS texc5 36 Ne? p24 37 wet d3 38 Hd7 a2+! 30 Hxa2 Exd2 40 &xd2 Dede. White resigns, Realising the enormous importance of pro phylactic thinking, | have, naturally, endeav- ‘ured to dovelop it in each of my students, Exercises in this direction have made for a rapid growth in their overall standard of play = mainly thanks to an improvement in theie ppositonal mastery and techniquo. As aresult they have entered the international arena, boing already mature and versatile players. | should ike to show you an instructive game by Sergey Doimatov, played in his first Intemational adult competition, The tourna: mont ended in a convincing victory for Sergey, who finished well ahaad ofthe other ‘competitors. Dolmatov - Hernandez ‘Amsterdam 1978 1 5 2 on De6 3 fea ie? 4 bs ote 5 43 0-0 6 00 6 Teed) When we make customary opening moves, we sometimes do not think about their point Why dio White play c2-c3, and not, say bd2 7 For prophylactic reasons! With his last move Black freed his knight from having to defend the eS pawn and created the positional threat of ..a5 ~ White partied the threat, by creating a retreat square for his bishop at 2. es 28 8 hee 5 9 paz bs? A bad move, in every respect - its both a waste of time, and a weakening of the {queenside. A year later (Amsterdam 1980) ‘Jan Timman acted more purposetuly against Dolmatov: 9. We7 10 Ret 6 11 Ait Ses 12093 d5 13 h3 Mads 14 We2 da 15.04 98 16 h6 MleB 17 We2 218, Alter a compl cated battle the game ended in a draw, 10 Ret De6 non At that time Dolmatovs play was character- ised, unfortunately, by a certain dogmatism. In positions where he knew in advance a good plan, he would aim to carry it out, without being distracted, and without paying attention to other promising possibiies. Incidental, this feature also told on his choice of opening — he raroly varied his ‘openings, choosing only those which ap- pealed to him the most al the given moment ‘This lack of tlextbilty not only mace it easier for his opponents to prepare, but also inflicted a definite creative damage - it rosticted the range of positional means availabe to Dolmatov, “The standard plan for White inthis position is the manoeuvre of his knight to 93 followed by d3-d4. But, thanks to the poor move ...67 5, White acquired an opportunity to weaken the opponents queenside by a2-ad! n.. ns 12 8 Hes 13 gs 218 308 nel dingram 14 At Just the right timet Another instant, and Black himself would have become active in the centre with 14.45, Highty-developed positional mastery consists in carrying out your own plans, while at the same time hindering the opponents plans, 4 Wer 14..cxd4 was better. 18 45 be 16 Ona ‘Again White misses a favourable opportunity to stke on the queensido: 16 a4! 16... 17 ga ‘This move cannot be delayed ~ otherwise Black would prevent it by ...RE-h5, oF play simply 17...297, after which 18 2g4 no longer achieves anything in view of the reply 18.8, 7 xg Black also stands worse after 17...0xg4, 18 hxgt 2ba7 19 03 of 2 fa Threatening 21 We? followed by set2 and Bhi ne g7 2 moe oN 4) BAR | a AAR OR 06-39, What should White play? AA player with no mastery of prophylactic thinking would without hesitation play ‘ac- cording to plan’ 22 #2. But Doimatoy was already accustomed to approaching a posi- tion more deeply. He realised that in this, case the opponent would strengthen his kingside by 22..16 23 Rt 7, attr which attempts to break through could only be ‘associated with the questionable exchange ‘sacrifice on he, There is only one way to prevent Black's defensive plan: 22 95. This does not yet ‘mean that this Is the only way to play (prophylactic thinking by no means implies the need always to make prophylactic moves). Simply itis necessary to compare the positions arising after 22 12 and 22 g5, and to decide which of thase itis better for White to goin for 22 gh! hxgs In the event of 22..n5 White would have broken through on te kingside, by preparing either a piece sacrifice, or the undermining move g2-94. | should mention that Sergey Tikes such a pawn formation ~ the pawns at dS and g5 seriously cramp the opponentsa position, and in parioular the black knights 23 x95 tev Q 6-40, What should White play? With an advantage in space one should avoid exchanges ~ therefore Dolmatov re: tweats his bishop, True, he had to reckon with 24,..&in4, but, asa simple calculation showed, the bishop move isnot dangerous. 24 Real ana 25 tal Ore 26 Unt xgs+ 11 26,..WeT there follows 27 Bxh4 (or simply 27 Miho followed by Rant) 27...Wxha 28 Ht (but not 28 2.95 Whe! 29 Zh1 Ab7), forcing 28..Wixht, since 28..1We7? 29 Sh6+ leads tomate. 27 txg3 6 28 dthG+ was threatened Q.6-41, What should White play? ‘Now Black's kingside isnot badly detended, {and It is hard to break though there ~ the time has come to open a ‘second front: 28 ad! 36 29 Kaz Tape 30 axbs. axb5 31 Har! by 32 a6 ” 11 92...RbpB White replies 33 hat, prevent- ing the exchange of rooks. Of course, he ‘could also have played this immediately, on the 31st move, but why not make use of an ‘opportunity to improve the ro0k's positon with gain of tempo? 2 5 33 de {Good technique! Black was intending .g6- £4 why allow him to do this? 3. 298 34 g8 ane 35 adi “The ‘principle of the worst piece" inaction. At present the bishop is doing nothing at c2 ~ it ‘must be transferred to €2. From thero it will elther support b2-b3, a standard undermin- ing move in such positions, or continue its Journey — via ff 103, ae Bhs 36 tga In order to party the threat of 36.. gd, ‘White had to place his king in the way of the bishop's route to h3. But this is nothing ternble ~ the postion is not one where every {tempo counts, and sooner or later the bishop will ach the desired squares. 36 Roos 37 Ger on 38 Bal White is now prepared to exchange all four rooks: after 38..07 99 Txb7 Wxb7 40 Rxh8 and 41 ba! he inevitably wins a pawn on the queenside, Wes ase 39 Exhe Whe 20 not aga - BD Q 6-42. What should White play? What does the opponent want? His main threat is 40,..8h7 and 41,..RR8, White also has to reckon with 40,..1a8 ~ it would be @ pity to have to concede the ale to the black ‘queen. This means that the white queen ‘must move onto the fist rank — trom there it ‘easily parties both threats 40 Wet! 40 Wat or 40 Wet was equally good 0. Wn7 40.08 41 Wat a Wht Wants 42 dxht 8 Unfortunately for Black, he is unable to active his game: if 42..04 there follows 43, 2.21 bxc3.44 dLxe3, and the o4 pawns lost 43° igh 207 “4 ae White does not hurry with the manoeuvre Bft-n3, fearing after 44 211 the reply 44.98! a. 6 45 Baa ‘Anexcellent prophylactic move! It simultane: ‘ously pursues three aims: a) It partis ...b5-b4 for ever 75 b) .-15-14 wil bo played without a gain of tempo; ©) after Black replies to 21 with 96-94, White can take on 15, and ..2x5 will no longer threaten to exchange the white bishop. ‘Once again 45 211 was premature because 0f 45.941 45... 6 4s on Dea 6-43, What should White play? Black's only active possibilty is the manoeu- ve ..8bs-84, Ht must be prevented 47 Bas! ‘ber 48 ins kes 49 ies ene 50 gz ‘White's positions completely won, Realising this, Dolmatoy began playing less carefully ‘and accurately than before, and he slightly ‘spoiled the finish. His plan is logical and Correct: to activate what is for the moment his only idle piece, his king, via g2-n3-g4. But it made sense for White to employ prophylactic thinking fora last me, and to ask himsel! what Black will do. His only Sensible idea is the manoeuvre 96-18 d7-e8, Had White played SO 151, hisaD ‘opponent would have had nothing better than to resign, since 50...¢7 is met by the ‘ecisive 51 Fa7! es 296 st ha 18 52 RS ‘The attempt to save a tempo by 52 deg4!? ‘came into consideration, 2... a7 xa7! White is forced to give up his bishop, so as rat to allow the knight 10 go to 5. 3 xa7 54 Sgt eer 55 fet pet Black cannot passively awaithis demise he sacrifices a pawn, but his knight finally breaks into the opponent's positon 56 Habs Dat 57 Usb xbo 58 xgs ‘fxg3 ean a1 59 xb27! ‘The white king is aiming for €7, but it could have been prevented from going there by playing 69.5871? 60 a6 ded7. Now White has a choice between the bishop sacrifice 6 x05 oxes 62 dno Dxbe 63 shad a3, land the quiet 61 14 ext4 62 dixta nba ‘Almost certainly one of these positions is won, and possibiy even both, but White ‘would have had to exert himset: choose the correct plan, and calculate variations. Since ‘ealier the win was achieved almost auto: matically, without any risk, it is obvious that somewhere Dolmatov's play was not the best Cr at Black does nol even try to complicate things for his opponent. The only possibilty of slightly prolonging the resistance was 60. 93.61 dhe7 tc7, 61 ser Black resigns, since i 61...te7, then 62 8x05 is decisive. Inthis game Write aid not have to solve any ‘complicated prophylactic problems, but, as you have probably noticed, his entire play was permeated with the spirit of prophylaxis. In choosing many of the moves he made, Dolmatov took into account his opponent's intentions, which enabled him all the time to ‘iciate the course of events on the board. White to move White to moveRL ‘Mysterious’ Rook Moves To demand of apiece only direct attacking activi i the stamp of the mero wood: shiter. The keener chess mind quite rightly demands ofthe pieces that they also undertake preventive action ‘Aron Nimzowitsch ‘The prophylactic moves which we encoun- tered in the previous chapter looked fairly simple, and sometimes they even suggested themselves. Ina game we nevertheless often overlook them, being unable to tune in to the ‘prophyactic wavelength’ or correctly assess the opponent's intentions But certain prophylactic decisions make a strong aosthatic impression on us, on ac Count of their unusual and non-obvious nature. For examplo, mysterious rook moves: (Nimzonitsch's definition) - when, for what is. al frst sight an inexplicable reason, a rook jcccupies not an open file, but a closed one. ‘The explanation usually lies in the need to suppress in this way an important pawn advance by the opponent. Remember, for ‘example, the reasons behind White's 14th ‘move in the Vukio-Davoavski game (in the chaptar ‘The blockade of passed pawns’ Ina tecture which he read at the second session of the Dvoretsky-Yusupov schoo! (ct. the book "Opening Preparation), grand- ‘master Dolmatov showed three of his gamos (against Lev Polugayevsky. Kinl Georgiev {and Alexander Belyavsky), which brilliantly ilustrated this theme. | cannot refrain from reproducing here an extract from one of them. Dolmatov ~ Belyavsky 56th USSR Championship, Odessa 1969 1 04 05 2 213 De 3 Ab5 a6 4 shad 16 50-0 s.07 601 bS7 b3 d68c30-09n3 bs 10 a4 Dba7 11 Abd? b7 12 Ler Hle8 13.a4 8 14 S43 c6 15 b3 96. A year earlier, in the 56th USSR Championship (1988), the game A. Sokolov-Belyavsky went 15, .RbB 16 2.43 M5, Dolmatov was aiming to repeat this game, having prepared an improvement for White, but Belyavsky chose a diferent pian 16 243 We7 17 We2 Zad8. 18 6-44, What Is the Idea of this ‘mysteri- ‘ous’ rook move? ‘After pondering over the point of his oppo rents last few moves, Dolmatov realised that Bolyavsky was preparing to open the contre by ..d6-d5. The series of exchanges in the centre does not promise White any advantage. In his book ‘My System, Nimzowitsch, while ‘emphasising the importance of freeing pawn moves and their influence on the further course of the game, at the same time remarks that sometimes they ate thisory since they effectively do not ave a freeing cetect. In the position that we are consider ing, probably the most dificult thing is to fesiablish that 18..45 is indeed merely an ilusory threat, since after 19 &xi8 Sext8 ‘White has the excellent positional move 20, bl, fixing Black's pawns on squares of the colour of his bishop and transforming the bishop at b7 into a ‘large pawn ‘The real threat (lor example, in roply to 18 adi or 18 1, is 18...bxad! 19 bxad and fonly now 19,..d5! with equal. It was this {tveat that Dolmatov partied with his ‘myste- ‘igus’ rook move (after the exchanges on 8, 45 and e8, the bishop at b7 is under attack) Later Sergey admitted that in the game he Carried out the entire chain of reasoning fairly ‘quickly, but for along time he could not make Lp his mind, since he simply could not bring himsolt to make the move — It looks so Unusual. He was probably helped by the Consideration that, if Black wore to avoid 18...d5 (lor example. in favour of 18...297), then al an appropriate moment White can play 3-4, provoking an exchange of Pawns, after which the rook is after al on an open file Realising thatthe exchange of pawns on a4 ‘was unfavourable for him, Belyavaky de: cided to play ...d6-d5 immediately, undetes- timating the strength of the postional idea found by Dolmatov. Be .. asa 19 xte oxte 20 bal xo 21 Axed! When there are weak squares in the oppo: Nnent's postion, knights sometimes prove ‘more nocossary than bishops. Besides, attr 21 \x047! xed 22 £.x04 Black could have sharpened the play by 22...15, forcing the bishop seeritice on 15. a. oxd47! aD 22 exad was Now White should have consolidated his advantage by 23 a! Re7 24 Wb? followed by the exchange of ro0ks on the o-fle. Dotmatov played less strongly, but after a ‘complicated and far trom faultless battle he nevertheless won, ‘And pow another example trom Dolmatov's play, which he could well have included nis, lecture Mochalov ~ Dolmatov Moscow 1981 1 as as 2 ef 06 3 as 26 4 Wee 96 5 exds. In the game Van Dop-Dolmatov (Bad LLauterberg 1978) Black achieved an excel lent game after 5 2f4 297 6 €9 0-07 Abde 4215 8 £c3 (8 Wo3 Bos wih equality) 2. x3 9 Bix03 05! 10 dxe5 a6, 5 coxd5 8 Bea aig? 7 at oo 8 D6 {In cuch postions Black usualy docs not hhunry to attack the queen with his bishop (ince the queen will go to 3, in tum attacking the b7 pawn), but fist makes other Useful moves, completing his development {and reserving the possibly of 25 forthe future 9 abs 215 10 Waa a5 11 Rea 36 12 Des ‘8 net agra6-45, Give an explanation for Black's ‘Strangely enough, here tooitis alla matter of prophylaxis against an important pawn ad: vance by the opponent. Black is planning to play ...b7- in order to obtain the 4 square for his knight, He rejected the immediate 12.067), since after 13 Wh! and 14 a4! the Lnfavourable exchange of pawns on ad is. forced. But with the rook at e8, the white ‘queen will no longer dare to go te ba, sincait immediately comes under attack oy the black bishop (..7-06 and ..8) 13 00 bs. 14 War Forced. 4 es Now ita2-a there s always the reply ..b5~ ba. 18 Het hei? 0 6-46, What should White play? ‘As usual, one should begin with the ques: tion: What does Black want?’ His last move serves asthe starting point of his entire plan He is intending to exchange the most active white pioce ~ the knight at e5 ~ by playing 247, and then to invade with his kright at 4. But first he needs to dafond his d5 pawn with ...e7=66, which ean be dane only after hes ensured the safety of his f5 bishop by 6-95. To disrupt the opponent's plan, White should have deciaed on ne energetic 16 g4! The bishop is forced to retreat, and then White can consider, for example, the manoeuvre of his knight to the weakened o5 square. AS you see, sharp, aggressive moves can also be prophylactic! 16 hs? ost 17 athe 6 18 i? a7 19 Sxa7 Waa 20 a3 Dea 21 xed Bred {As a result of his opponent's passive play, Black has completely seized the initiative The remainder of the game is a vivid demonstration of the power of the two bishops. at ‘The a3 and bé squares are weak, and the black bishop is aiming for them, 25 ef Sig6 26 exas exds 27 bt Ee 28 Exe2 Hxc2 29 Was ‘Wor! 30 Ket Wes 90.. et! (K Neat). 31 Wxba Axbs 32 Heb sto? 3383 as 34 Kap Kets 35 oR Exbt ‘And White soon resigned.Training with Grandmasters ‘Any missed opportunity to play better, even in a drawn game or one won with dificult, {s your loss. This is why you must again and again rotum to your own errors, ‘nrespective of the outcome of tho game, Garry Kasparov During the years of my youth the leading players of the country often gave simultane us displays. against Moscow schoolchi- dren, | was always happy to take part in these. It was mainly, of cours the desire to take the ‘scalp’ of another famous grand: master. But thore was also something else the games played in these displays, or isolated episodes trom them, usually proved instructive, and became firmly imprinted in my memory, and { was able to make use of ideas found in them in later toumament games. There is no doubt that this form of training is very useful for young players. Tobe honest, | can hardly recall any instance: when in a simuitaneous display (a normal ‘one, of with clocks, on a small number of boards) a decision by some grandmaster ‘came as a revelation to me. | learned mainiy from my own discoveries and omissions, ‘There is nothing surprisingin this. The player giving the display has no time to think ‘Seriously over a move, and he plays suport cially, whereas his opponent is sometimes able to delve into the postion and discover its secrets. And algo, generally speaking, ‘each of us is inclined to concentrate on our ‘own thoughts, plans, discoveries and errors = to borrow ‘the experience of others is psychologically much more dict. | should ike to offer you severat examples of ‘my participation in simultaneous play, and with the help of them show from what viewpoint a player can think over games he has played, in order to extract useful Information from them. Horo | think it is appropriate to recall one of the aphorisms of Kozma Prutkov: ‘When you throw stones into the water, ook at the circles they create, ‘otherwise it wil be a pure waste of ime.’ Bronstein - Dvoretsky ‘Moscow 1963 90 06-47, What should Black play? 2... Wars 30 Bee art 31 Wer. ter Note that neither White's queen, nor Black’, is able to give a single check to the ‘opponents king. The conclusion: @ knight positioned next to the king securely defends it against the enemy queen. In this game | encountered this technique for the fist ime, and subsequently | mado use ofiton several occasions, Now White should have chosen either the cautious 32 Wb7 Wab2 33 a6 bé with a ‘markedly inferior postion, or a pawn sacr fe for the sake of obtaining a passed pawn, 2 cxb5!? axd5 33 Wb7 Web? 34 a4, However, David Bronstein made @ typical simultaneous display blunder: 32 $1972, and after 32...Wa3s 33 ta xls 34 wed Wess 35 s:f2 Wxed he quickly lost Botvinnik~ Dvoretsky Moscow 1964 1 3 re 2 ge 96 3 et 6 4 Ge ag? 5 00 0-0 6 ds 57! 7 3 7 oc5!? Tove De6 8 hg Wer 9 aes as 10 Baz White has @ clear advantage in space. To ‘avoid coming under a positional squeeze, | docided to undertake a diversion in the cent, assuming thet, even # it should leak to the loss of a pawn, | would have definite ‘compensation thanks tothe opening of fines. 0. oxdd 11 oxaa 5 2 6 ee 13° Dxes ‘Another good option was 13 53 16 14 13, Og 15 SkxgS tags 16 Wae with advantage toWnite, Bo. oxet 14 tee 215 15 gt ‘hes 16 hxet Both players overlooked the strong positional move 16 a! irae want Threatening 18..xeS. 18 Was hs ‘The sacrifice on gf is incorrect: 18...21g4? 19 Sxc6 Hues 20 mags Wrgde 21 2g ns 22 tixe?. 19 137! ‘The positional exchange sacrifice came into Consideration: 19 gxhs!? Stxh3 20 hxg6, @ head 20 hg Sxgat a Ee The position after 21 @xc6 Bucs 22 fxg Wgdt 29 12 Hed seemed to Mikhail Botvinnik to be too dangerous. Players giving simultaneous displays usually ty 10 avoid such adventures, a a5 2 das ‘ts 23 tig? 00 noi dagam3. 167 ‘Ater playing the opening excellently, Write then acted uncertainly and ended up in an inferior position, The move in the game ‘seemed to me to be completely natural ~ it attacks the enemy centre, and includes the inactive dark-square bishop inthe play The following day | showed the game to ‘grandmaster Simagin. When the move ..£7~ 6 was reproduced on the board, Vladimir Pavlovich stopped me and asked in surprise: "Why weaken the positon of your king, and ‘give White counterplay? Surely you can ‘manage without this move?” “But what should | do, | enquired. “Look at the hoes’ in the opponent's position ‘onthe light squares, Your knight is dreaming ‘of reaching there’, Simagin replied, and he suggested a move which, | have to admit, thad not even occurred tome: 23..a5!1 The black knight obtains the wonderful transit point b, from where it threatens to invade at €2, 43 0F 65. ‘Any commentary here is supertiuous, Such {episodes engrave themselves in he memory for a long time, and assist the development of a player's positional understanding, 24 Was ee 25 oxté xt 26 ht xaa 27 Oxaa Bxaat 27..Sxd4 28 Bh? x03 20 Bred is dangerous for Black 28 Bh7 Inthe event of 28 £xd87 Sxdé 29 Be? (20 Wr? Wo5+ 30 ha He4!) 29. Wos+ 20 “Ett (G0sbh3 G7) the most quicky decisive is 90..Rots 31 Bet We2! ae Bas 29 idxb7 In the resulting complicated position the ‘chances of the two sides would appear to be equal, as was confirmed by the further course of the game, 29,..%¢98 30 Bhs He2 31 Woes cht? 32 Khr+ de6 33 Wh3 Hxt2s 34 sorta 98 35 Sins Wo6 36 ht Wt57! (36..Wes) 37 Bat WeS 98 Exa5?! (98 11!) 98..Wxa5 39 ‘xd5+ sexd5 40 xa7 xb2 41 ed 05 42 LxgS 04 43 14 ct 44 He2 des 45 dat ‘Bxf4, Draw, ‘Studying the books ofthe classics, | noticed how diforently they sometimes handled one and the same question of chess strategy. Thus Aion Ninzowisch usually based his lay on exploiting weak squares in the ‘opponent’ position. Whereas Richard Ret, by contrast, often prepared an attack on the most fortied point, and aimed first to ‘weaken and then destroy it, which would lead to the collapse of the entire opposing detence. For example, alter 1 B19 dS "Nimzowitsch would develop his bishop at be, in order to contol tho woakened dark squares (in partcular e5). But Réti would Undermine the d5 strongpoint by c2-c4, and attack it again by developing his bishop at 2. Fortunately, already then | had sufficient sense to avoid asking foolish questions: who is right, which strategy is better. | realised that, depending on the specific circum- stances, preterence can be given to either fone strategy, oF the other, and sometimes they have to be combined. Even so, Nimzowitsch’s eas were closer to me, more understandable, and | often employed them. The fist ime | succeeded with a Rét- style plan ~ a systematic atack on the most {ortifed point in the opponent's position ~ was in a game played in a simultaneous slsplay with clocks Vasyukov ~ Dvoretsky Moscow 1965 1 6 2 8 5 3 ea aba 4 6 207 io) eres) sbxed+ 6 bxed 5 7 af Does 38 Os Was 9 faa a7 10 02 Later 10 bs became popular 10 oa 10.16 was preterabo, since now White had the possibilty of a strong knight manoouvre 41 Sigst ne (110-0 12 0-0 16 13 exi6, Exio 14 Sod) 12 0n3 0-0-0 13 fa bs 14 0-0 28 (voter 14.96) 15 5! Bhgs 16.894, andBlackhas no acive counterpay {Kavalek-Unimann,Interzonal Tournament Manila 1976) 1 00 6 12 exis? oxi 13 Ret ‘Theory recommends playing for the restric: tion of the enemy pieces: 13 h4'? 0-0-0 14-5. In reply Black usually sacrifices & pawn with 14.961? 13 ooo 4 in gs Black achioved an excellent positon in the game Suetin-Uhimann (Berin 1967) by continuing 14,.015 15 Wet hs 16 Wad Midge 17 abt Dds 18 Ks 6. 6 93 Qee? ‘Now the opponent has to reckon with the manoeuvre ...515-06-, 16 ot O18 17 age 17 &h3 was more logical, when, | remember, | was considering the positional pawn sacri: fice 17.,.d6!? 18 x06 Dod 19 Sxa7+ Ho7. cee hs Back i planning to throw all his forces against the buiwark of White's postion ~ the 3 pawn, First he plays —.n7-hS-haxg3. ‘Then follows ...2d6-08 and 16-5. The pawn at 15 supports the knight at e4 and is ready to attack g3, by making another step forward. 18 Aas Was It is important to retain the d6 square forthe knight. 19 a5 ha 20 bes haga 21 hxg3 m6 2 de 2 oxd6 (Otherwise the knight will goto 64Rb 23... Wxa6 24 a6?! bs 25 Wrs7 ‘A one-move trap typical of a simultaneous display: White creates the threat of 26 xc The immediate 25 xct died 26 WI (hoping for 26..1Wo8 27 Hxe6!) would have ‘boon refuted by 26... Hd! Songer was 25, thor 25 O18. 2. Wert ‘The threat is partied, and now White can no longer defend against ..15-14 26 Hebi a 27 ba xg 28 txg3 Bats 29 Wes 94 0.649, What should Black play? ‘The g3 pawn has boon transformed into an obvious weakness. The knight is transferred t0f5, in order to threaten once again, andi ‘necessary @ rook can also take part in the attack along the gle, 29 Den The triumph of Black’ plant His postion is, stratagially won, 30 Ket 2S 91 Wea Weta 92 xt (22 gxla Bng8 or 32.8 Bxt8 34 £19 7 95:dg2 O15 96 4120537 1 6 38 Hat eB 39 £1 e5 40 dxes Dna 41 One Sts 42 Dxtd kg 43 skg3 Shxf3 46 2 dea 45 Hit ts 46 sb 6 47 14 sie7 48 GIS a7. White resigns. ‘The most memorable win for me was in a simultaneous cisplay with clocks against the ‘world champion, Petrosian ~ Dvoretsky Moscow 1965 1 0 5 2 as 6 3 ea Des 4 abs Qge7 Ss 00 36 6 027! ‘A strange move. Why then was the bishop ‘brought out to b5? To provoke the develop ment of the knight at @7 (instead of f6)? | {don't think thatthe knight is less well placed here. 6 6 7 @ 96 8 295 8 41? came into consideration. After Black has committed hime tothe development of his bishop at g7,it makes sense for White o play for the weakness of the d6 pawn, by pening the die, a. ag? Black has succossful arranged his piecos — you have already seen this scheme of Govelopment (with reversed colours) in the game Dvoretsky-Timoshchenko, analysed atthe very start of the book. This set-up is. siscussedin more detallin the book Opening Proparation, In my lecture about the con: struction of an opening repertoie. 9 Wet aa 10 he ro ‘There was hardly any point in allowing the sharpening of the play after 10..0xh6 11 Wane Deco 12 Hact ad 13 Wo7 9B 14 wor. 1 Oxde xd 42 xg? soxg? 1 Adt “The standard plan in such positions (wich, Incidental, was carried out in the afore- ‘mentioned Dvoretsky-Timoshichenko game) is to rearrango the pawns on dark squares: (06-05 and 17-16, But | improved on this by employing (probably for virualy the fist time in my Ife) ‘prophylactic thinking’. What here does White want to play? Most probably 2-44, but pawn moves on the queenside ‘must aiso be considered. The undermining mave c2-c3 is pointless ~ Black easily fonds nis d4. But c2-of has its point ~ by ‘getting rid of his backward c2 pawn, White Strengthens his queenside, which is where | ‘would ike to develop an offensive. 2 bs! 4 att | guessed right! We xed 15 ixca 5 Black has opened the b- and c-fles, and ‘soon they will be occupied by his rooks. 6 es 17 Gps Hes, 1% On 08 19 Wee 0 6-50. What should Black do now? Let us again make use of prophylactic thinking. It Hkaly that White would not be averse to geting rid of his bad bishop, by playing 20 2294 {rn the absence ofthe 97 bishop, the reply 17-15 weakens. the kingside) For example, 19.157! 20 Was ‘yas 21 es deed 22 Lgt!? (22 Htc!) 22.15 23 ext gf 24 9 wth chances for both sides. 2. exist 2 ite Bes Black has cartiad outa favourable transtor ‘mation ol the postion. He as worsonod his ‘pawn formation somewhat, but onthe other hand he has gained the excellent square ob for his knight. The opponent does not have time for 21 Sigs, since he has to parry the trvoatened rook invasion at c2. 2 Bet ‘wes 2 Wa2 | wil italy annotate the final part of the ‘game as | undersiood it atthe te. eles xcs Black exploits tho fact that the enemy rook is tied tothe defence ofthe a2 pawn,on A 23 Wxet Rea 24 Waa Res, 25 hat bs! Itis important to force b2-b3, weakening the dark squares and restricting stil further the ‘mobilty of the white bishop. The opponent hhas no choice, since the pawn sacrifice 26 03 xb3 27 axb3 Exb3 does nothing to ease his positon. 28 bs Bes 27 Bet? Q 6-51. What should Black play? Aiming for simplification, Tigran Petrosian overlooked a tactical subtly 7... Exet 28 Wet ‘Was! ‘A decisive double attack! I win a pawn, and with it the game. 20 tt Waar 30 ba? ‘customary simul blunder ina lost position. 30 ‘Wat2e! White resigns. A good positional game! ‘Two decades later, when looking for appro- Priate teaching material, | returned to my ‘game with Petrosian. As a trainer, | was then Interested in the problems of defending dificult positions and the conversion of an advantage. Examining the concluding moves from this point of view, ! saw that my actions were not ieproachable, since they allowed the opponent to obtain some counter- chances. Lotus turn tothe positon in the last diagram but one. In the positional sense the move ‘6-25 is advantageous to Black. The fact that time for it was notin fact found casts some doubts on the technical mastery of the black player. in the game, itis true, me absence of the pawn from a5 proved advantageous to mo, allowing me to land the decisive blow 28..WaS!, but this occurred ‘almost by ace'dent, Instead of exchanging rooks, 22.51” could have been played, and if 23 b3, then either 23.4, or 23...c5 (after the immediate 22._H1c5 White has the reply 23 bd). 1123 83, then 23...D8 or 23..2c5 followed by 24. HDBis strong (24 bd axba 25 axb4 Hos), But why is 22...Bxo1+ bad? ~ afterall, White is forced to recapture with his queen. The Point is that he Is not forced to. Serious Consideration should have been given to the pawn sacrifice 23 Bxct!? xa2, and now not 24 09? Sixb3 25 Hot 26, but 24 Dad! (@ 6-52. What should Black play? — Rb Mate is threatened, and 24..167 does not help in view of 25 Wher digs 26 Sxt6s! Exd6 27 Hob, Aor 24..xg4 25 dLxgd the departure from the board of the knight from 5, which was cementing Black's position together, gives the opponent chances of exploting the vuinerablity of the doubled pawns at d6 and d4. To 25... RbB there is the reply 26 bét, while f 25.453, then 26 Hat withthe idea of 27 Wa5. Alter 25,..266 26 ‘8x06 fke6 27 h3 the position of the black ing is realy too open, [think thatthe only rel possibilty of playing for a win is by avoiding the exchange of knights: 24.07! and then 25...¢8. But is iteasy to decide on this? But whereas 22...2ixct!? and 22...a5!? are objectively roughly equivalent, my next move 23.2081 was @ significant inaccuracy. Sinco it was advantageous to provoke the weakening b2-b8, this should have been done immeodiatoly, by paying 23..21b81 A possible variation is 2413 Bic8 25 Wa a5 26 Ect Wt! Biack later had to waste time on the manoeuvre ..e8-c5-b5-e5, and this delay gave the opponent certain counter ‘chances. After 23. 2c871 24 Wae the move 24... Ko5 was apparently correct. In the event of 24.25 25 Sat (with the idea of 26 2b) 25..JicS Black would have had to reckon with 26 %3! D5 27 bs? B.xb3 (27.041? is ‘more dangerous, and i 28 x06 Ex2) 28 axb3 Hxb3 29 Wxas Wra5 (29...xb2 30 Wands Exb6 31 Had) 30 BxaS Qxd3 (90..Hxp2 31 HS witha draw) 31 Oxa3 (31 asi?) 31..xd3 32 as. Instead of the losing move 27 Ect? White should have tried 27 bl” (it was there that the absence of Black's ...a6~a5 would have told) 27...26c3 28 Mbt withthe dea of 29 a4 Then 28..a5 29 bS Ha 30 Hb2 is hardly dangerous for him. After 28..2a3 he has a choice between 29 Hb2 and 29 £63, The latior move 29 £131? involves a lite trap 29...2xb9 20 axb3 c6? 31 Aga! I Black replies witn the prophylactic 90..£n6, then $1 ‘h3!? comes into consideration. Although White's position remains anxious, he can nevertheless continue the st~uggleBe What is Meant by a Strategic Plan? ‘A uniiod plan ina game of chess isa sum of strategic operations, following ‘one after another, carried out each time in accordance with an inavidual ‘conception, stemming trom the demands of the poston on the board. Alexander Kotov ‘Znosko-Borovsky ~ Alekhine Paris 1933, 108 05 2 O13 D6 3 2b5 06 4 Lad O16 50-0 d6 603 £47 7 et he7 8 dd 0-0 9 bd? eB. ‘An orginal move, the idea of ‘hich isto keep the central positon intact by means of ...47 and utlise after ..£7-16 the queen's bishop on the 8-6 diagonal’ — Alekhine. Modem theory has a sceptical regard for Alokhine's opering plan on the basis ofthe game Smyslov-Lyublinshy (17th USSR Championship, Moscow 1949), which ‘continued 10 b3 (less accurate is 10 2 exdd 11 oxdé 05 12 05 Bred) 10.2167 11 2Mt_RI6 (no better Is 11.. ity with 12. x25, 10 Bh Bab Itis not easy to camry out ..a7-26 and ..b6~ 'bS: Back has to reckon with the manoeuvre ®a5-c6. The knight on o4is very strong, and 0 he prepares to take it with his bishop followed by ..}208, .7-a6 and ..b6-b5. In fadktion, the exchange of bishop for knight wil hinder White's thematic e4-e5 break: through, 1 Het In the game Smyslov-Schmid (Olympiad, Helsink! 1952) 11 4 31b87! was played. 15 6-59, How should White continue? Blackisintonding 12...x04 19 axed a6 and 14..b5. Nothing is achieved by 12 €5? when Black has both 12...25, and 12..dxe5, 19 fixed QixdS 14 ZvdS Mixes 15 xed Sixe2 16 x02 Was 17 Zadt Wes. Note the typical technique, with which Vasily ‘Smyslov disrupted his opponents plan. 1291! Now 12..,ix04 13 bxc4! is pointless, ‘and also nothing is achieved by 12...€n5 13 ‘B.d2, After suppressing the counterplay on the queenside, White wants simply to strengthen his poston: #42, Hadt etc. 12..247 13 We? 15 14 Eadt. Now Black can win @ pawn in various ways, but in so doing he weakens his kingside and comes under a dangerous attack. For example, 14,,fixed 15 Wre3 trea 16 Sn6 27 17 Sos, 1U.sxed 15 xed BIS, It 15...207 Smysiov was intending 16 gS Wea 17 Sod! xd 18 2)exd6! exa6 19 xd6 Wes 20 D5, and in all vasialons White regains the piece, retaining the advantage, 16 Agi! Rxd5 17 obs Axes 18 Wxds, ‘and White won, Black should not allow b2-b3! Instead of 19...2b8}, stronger is 11.47 12 Waa x04! 13 xed a6, now ear 12 Kast ‘An interesting idea. The rook goes to b3, from where it impedes ...06-D5. Subse: quently it may be switched along the Srd rank to the kingside for an attack rar be 13 ibs see ne daar 103Ry ie Bes! Black makes a correction to his plan, I he plays routinely: 13..xc4 14 Lxcd 06, then after 15 We2 he is able to play ..b6-bS only atthe cost of the exchange of his important {7 bishop, whichis, of course, unfavourabe. 15,.Sex0321 is strongly mot by both 16 Zixc b5 17 Ba2! folowed by 18 hs (less accurate is 17 axbS?! axbS 18 a2 Maa 19 bi Rat 20 Gh6 He8 with an unclear Position), and 16 bxc3!? We8 17 £hé Hes 18 Hebt (not allowing 18..8), Instead of 14... wenpting bs 14.005 15 It of 16 Had a6 17 14 Hd7, when 18 ‘&Lx04? 5 is bad for White. However, Black has to reckon with an excellent ‘knight ‘manoeuvre (incidentally, rather typical): 18 ®a2i_v5 19 Db4. The woakness of 6 ‘ensures White the advantage, Finally, i Black rejects 15...041 in favour of 15.06, then after 16 F4 @d7 17 S04 (with the idea of 18 We2) he can once again carry fut ...b6-B5 only by giving up his. dark: square bishop. 14 Bx0s ‘The exchange of wo pairs of minor pieces is, in principle, undesirable, if the opponents in ‘cramped position. For the same reason 14 104 Dbs @xo4 15 22x04 is not too convincing — Black frees himself by 15...sxb5! 16 axb5 26) 17 bxa6 bS 18 a7 (18 21 Ba7!, but not 18,2067! 19 21) 18..1b7 and, as is shown by the variation 19 We2 Wd7 20 a2 Ba8 21 Kat? Hoxa? 22 Exa7 Hxa7 23 ‘x05 Bats, White is unable to defend his a7 awn in view of the weakness of his first rank Let us check the atternpt by White to restrict himself to the exchange of only the light- ‘square bishops: 14 a3 Bxe2 (14..04 15, ‘Eb4is poinless) 15 Wro2 26 16 f4 id7 17 ‘4. The opponent's ony active resource is 166-5, but then the knight goes to a5. Even so, as shown by Vadim Zviagintsev, by playing 17..08! 18 a5 (18 axd5 Zxbs) 18..bxaél Black maintains. the dynamic balance. I 19 06 there follows 1.xb3 20, \xd8 Fixd8 with full compensation for the queen. An unclear positon results from 19 xad Bxb3 20 oxb ba. And after 19 a3 205 20 Zicé Black can choose between the exchange sactiice 20..84c7!? and the vaia- tion 20..2d4!? 21 Wras Bbs 22 Was Dx06 23 deeb Axe! (23.08? 24 c7! ‘Wrc7 25 445) 24 bxc3 bs with chances for both sides. 4 fixe 15 Wee Not 15 x7? Sixdt 16 @xa8 sixc2. The attempt to begin an attack on the kingside by 15 @xe2 2x05 16 Bh3 is premature — in roply the opponent opens the centre by 16...06! 18 x05 Black's intending to play 16.26 followed by 17.7 and 18..05. Walter Browne fore- sails the opponent’ pla. 16 bs! b7 ‘A move clearly made by the method of elimination: 16..a6 is not possible, 16..aé is too passive, andin the event of 16..xD5 17 ax Black is deprivad of counterplay on - RD the queenside and stands clearly worse Buthave all ne candidate moves been taken, into account? No, not al. 16..1Wd7! came seriously into consideration, since if 17 axa7 there is 17...xa5, “7 vo A natural, but not an indisputable move. It will be justiied if White subsequently suc: ‘caeds in advantageously advancing one of his central pawns (o4-e5 of 14-15). Other: ‘wise the weakening of the dark-square Deriohery and the passivity of the c1 bishop wil tel 7 1 Ea ‘The star ofa dubious plan, which in the end leads to White's defeat, He must have boon ‘wanting to prevent 18...68, and was hoping ‘on the next move to play e4-e5. But it he really wanted to prepare this advance, then the simple 18 04 was proferable (to which Black would have replied 18...08). To me 18 151? seems a more tempting idea, intending 19 Z1h3 folowed by playing the queen to na @ 6-60. How should Black react to the ‘move in the game? He must prepare activity on the queenside And at the same time hinder e4-e5. Black's Ag? next subtle move successfully resolves both of these objectives. ips Wiest Two tactical threats have been created: 19...04 20 Wxes xb5, and 19..2xD6 20 axbS c4 followed by 21... WoSt 19 Wes Iwas not yet too late to play 1964. Onc4 the ‘queen is not too well placed: t no longer ‘controls the e5 square (which means that 24-06 is deferred) and alsoin the future it wil ‘come under attack when the opponent plays 7-26 and ..6-bS. 19 as 20 tht Dos! Excollently played! Black intends 21.26, then ..267, Wb and ..b-bS, To prevent this plan, White should have Immediately retreated his knight. tis possible that inthis case the game would have ended in a repotiion of moves: 21 Das! De? 22 bs! ea ete 2 hat “Typical ‘pseudo- prophylaxis’. t would seem Useful to open an escape square forthe king ‘and to deprive the enemy queen of the o4 ‘squate, but it was nat the right time fortis — the opponent's real positional threat shout have been partied. Ae 36 22 Bean White does not want to reject the plan of preparing e4-5, now clearly delayed due to the attendant circumstances. it made sense to rotreal the knight to a3 and then move the rook from b3. Have it is no longer able to ‘prevent ..b6-b5, and i merely comes under attack by the advancing pawns on the ‘queenside. 22 27 23 Wez ‘se oo diagram 108RL Q 6-61. What possibilities does Black have? Which would you preter? ‘Gheoighiu chose the simplest continuation: 23,.1Mb8, after which ...06-bS cannot be prevented. With the same aim he could have played 23...Wa71? — here the queen is more actively placed. But is it not possible to save a tempo and, ‘exploiting the tactical features of the posi tion, advance the pawn immediately? In the variation 23.051? 24 axb5 axb5 25 xb5 ‘0! Black wins a piece. But itis too early to {ut shor te calculation: 26 x06! exas 27 ‘Wros Bxb3 28 Wxb3 (weaker is 28 cxb3 2a6l), and for the knight White has an ‘adequate material equivalent - three pawns. Black, obviously, still stands better, but how much? Letus continue the analysis: 28.16 29 03 Bo8 30 Wad! fixb2131 Hoi a7 52 Ribs 5 43 £15. Or 29...215 30 Wa! (but not 30 We &xb2 31 dines £23!) The situation seems unclear to me, with White retaining good drawing chances, Up til now all our thoughts have revolved around the planned advance ..b6-5. But aren't there any other ideas? Grandmaster Viorel Bologan suggested beginning active Play in the centre: 29,..6!7 The counter: advance 24 5?! leads alter 24...exd5 25 106 xd Dds 26 Mads dves 27 Dxd8+ Wea 28 tx05 HAT 29 B43 (29 ta Lt + 30 eno Wed) 29.. x03 90 exd3 Was 31 2146 (or 31.15) to an obvious positional advantage {or Black, And after 24 dxe6 (xe6 he has the strong postional threat of ..d6-d5. Possibly the evaluation ofthe position depends on the correctness of the attempt 25 1517 followed by 26 stg6. suggested by Zviagintsev. What would you have chosen? Most of the problems that you are set inthis book have a Sing, cleat-cut solution, but in practice it by no means always happens this way. In the given instance, and in general throughout this game, twas very hard to establish which plan was the best ~ the position permitted various interpretations. Here the mostimpor- tant thing was to find as many promising options as possible. For example, you would not be reproached at all, it you considered 23...06 and consciously rejected i (ightly oF wrongly); it would be much worse fhe move did not accur to you at al 3 ‘Wes 28 Browne finaly carries out his idea, but the elect of the breakthrough in the centre is only slight ~ the white pieces are badly Prepared for @ head-on fight. It looks more Grcumspectto switch to defence: 24 2b1 b5 28 axbS axbS 26 a3, and if 26._.b421 27 c4 06 there is the reply 28 as. But for allofusitishard to reconcile ourselves to the collapse of our ambitious hopes. ae bs 25 axbs axbs Black also stands well after 25...2xb5, He wants more, and he achieves it, but only thanks to a mistake by the opponent. - RD 26 O04? ‘This leads tothe loss of a pawn without any ‘compensation. Meanwhile, after 26 oxd6! ‘exd6 27 Des White's position would have ‘been by no means hopeless ~ in some cases hhe could have gained counterplay by f4-15. It was here that it would have come in useful for Black to have his queen on o7, ae ott a ie axes 2 es a? 29 05, Exas, 30° Teds xd5 31 6 15! ‘The game is essentially over: Black has both fan extra pawn, and significantly better placed pieces. 32 BH Eat 33. Rat Wigs! 34 a7 34.005 was threatened. White nas no useful moves, and so Gheorghiu does not hurry, but calmly strengthens his positon 34 hs 3 our 36 gs ‘Tho usual story: when there are no good moves, bad ones are made. True, her itis no longer possible to suggest anything sensible, 36. Dxe3 37 bxe3 Rxdt+ 38 Wxdt Wrxg5 39 Was ‘Wes. 40 Ws Wres White resigns, By studying this game we have improved our Understanding of positions arising from the Benoni Defence (and certain other opening variations) ~ we have leamed or repeated ‘many typical plans, ideas and evaluations. n principle, this is how to become familiar with typical middlegame positions ~ by ‘choosing and making a deep analysis of interesting examples on the theme that interests us. | invite the reader to analyse independently another fascinating game, in which after the ‘opening the pieces and pawns were on almost the same squares. The bref oxplana- tions to it are based on the comments from the interesting book by the world corre: spondence champion Grigory Sanakoev "World Champion atthe Third Attempt ‘Shmulenson ~ Sanakoev VIII World Correspondence Championship Semi-Final, 1972-75 1.04 05 22113 963 44 £g7 4.05 d6 5 Des 9466 LbS+ Dbd7 7 240-080-0269 £02 6. According to theory, Black can prepare b7-b5 by 9.06 and ..e8-c7, not fearing the cramping move aé-as. 40 2d2. The game Andrianov-Razwaev (Moscow 1981) developed as follows: 10 td b7 11 Bet Des 12 3 Der 13 We 216 14 Sos Wa7 15.65 Bhs 16 he bs 17 {R11 15 with an unclear game. 10...287 11 {4 008 12.De4 Whe 13 a3? Der 14 Ms. 107RD For Black to carry out the vitally important 106-5, he is forced to part with his dark ‘Square bishop. 14..b8! 15 axb§ foxc3 16 Bxe3 axb5 (of course, not 16..@xbS? 17 Bhs dé 18 3 and 19 c3) 17 @e8 (17 £d2!) 17...ladl 18 RaB! (18 13 £06) 18.447! (18..Bres 19 Ad3 Hxe3}) 19 Wet Exed 20 2a3, B44! A risky decision. It was sounder to sactlice the exchange by 20...xe3. 21 QVBI! bd 22 Rb gxt5 23 SxS 6 26 3ih3 HeB! Black finds the only possible Uofence ~ we clears the Way for is King © run to the queenside. 25 Wo3+ 18.26 Exh7 “ixn7 27 xh? sheB 28 98+ sd7 29 5+ He6 30 dxeb tes 31 Wx"? sb6 32 Wrx07 xg?! The saving ‘counter-attack! 39 x92 Ege 34:12 Wa8 35 Nat. Draw agreed, in view of 35 Rot Exgt 36 dxgt Rate 37 G12 Wht 38 Woe, when White Gives perpetual check. ‘The exercises suggested for independent ‘solving are linked wath the Browne-Gheorghiu ‘game not only by their similar pawn forma- tion, but also by there being a choice of almost equivalent possibilities. It is not so 108 significant which of the good solutions you choose — the important thing is that the Solution should indeed be good. White to move RD The Initiative itis essential fo act more or les aggressively attacking as soon asa chance presents ise! The intative should be seized atthe very fist opportunity. The iniatve is an advantage. José Rai ‘The initiative means activity, the imposing of ‘your will on tho opponent. if we hold the Initiative, we force him to parry our threats, thereby diverting him from puting into effect the plans he has conceived ‘The word ‘tative’ constantly appears in game commentaries — this means that itis a igh significant factor in chess. And mean- while, in Iterature there ere hardy any studies ofthis important topic. |, for example, ‘can remember only a chapter, devoted to the fight for an opening Initiative, in Isaac LUpritsky’s excellent (but, alas, litie-known) book ‘Voprosy sovremennoy shakhmatnoy teri? (Questions of modern chess thaory). “The examples offered for your attention are devoted fo one of the aspocts ofthis topic: turing points in a game, determining who will hal the initiative Is on the success of ‘ur actions at such moments thatthe entice ‘subsequent course of @ game will oftan depend. Euwe Alekhine World Championship Match, 4th Game, Holland 1935, 1 aa 16 2 of 96 3 Bea 5 4 Wes. dxos 5 Wxca 97 6 Rte 6 7 Bair ‘Was Black energetically exploits the drawbacks of the opponents last mave (delay in develop: ‘ment, and weakening of the a2 pawn) and creates the threat of 8.26, Capablanca 8 fae bs “There are some moves of mine in the fist Euwo match which ! actually simply cannot ‘understand. Neither before nor since have I played such decidedly unsound chess, es- ppecialy in the openings! Here, for instance, the spoling of the pawn skeleton on the ‘queenside cannot even be excused by the lack of other promising continuations; forthe simple 8.86 9.8.01 215 followed by..0-0 would have secured Black a distinct advan- tage in development (Alekhine). 9 ws bev {is most probably this pawn move, rather than the previous one, which should be condemned. Air 9..0-0 or 9...8b6 Black ‘would have retained an excellent positon, ‘whereas now the white knight aims for cS. 10 Bad Bas no Bos 11..0-0 was proferable, and i 12 04, than 12.FbB (with the idea of 13...c5) or 12.04, 12 Wee o-0 13 bs “Tho pawn capture 13 Wxc6!? looks risky, but White could, and probably should have played this. Both 13,,.0b8 14 Ws! (but not 14 Wea? £05) 14..1WxdS 15 SxbS and 13.0145 14 Wras Bhra6 15 fxa6 Jang? 16 £3 (16 xb4!?) 16. Sixht 17 2 are to his advantage, And atter 13.07 14 b3! (less ‘good is 14 Zict 25 15 Wic7 Wrad or 15 FoS dixe6 16 Kxa5 shxad 17 Bxa4 af) he ‘would have had the important resource 15 Wes,Re In rejecting gain of material, Max Euwe wants to complete is development as Quickly as possible and then in a quiet pstional battle exploit the opponent's weak: ‘nesses on the o-il, Be abe 4 fas Here 14 W821 was much weaker than bbofore. Alexander Alekhina gives the excel lent reply 14.28! withthe idea of 15...207 and 16..2fc8. But the other developing move 14 191? came into considera Moe tee 06-62. How should White continue? White's positional pluses are obvious, whereas he has only one minus, butitis very serious: he &8 behind in development. Black ‘wants to exploitit by 15...c5 By sacrificing a pawn, he wil open lines for his pieces and ovelop a counter-attack Euwe could have prevented the activation of the opponent's forces by the simple ex: ‘change 15 4Lxa6 (of course, this could also have been played a move earlier) 15...Wxab 16 cS Ws 17 e2 (weaker is 17 Hf3 45), andif 18 64, then 18... xed! 19 xed ‘Wo5), But after 17..247 does White have any advantage? Inthe evento! 18 2xe6 tke 110 Black wil inevitably undermine the centre by 6-5 or ..c6-5. And after 18 Hot he achieves equality by playing 18...215 19 04 (19 Wot Acs 20 Wes e5) 19..Oxc5 20 dec5 £71? followed by 21.05 and 22.208, ‘This variation probably seemed insufficiently convincing to the challenger for the word title, who wanted to achieve moro, and he headed ito the storm, 18 e212 cs! ‘Delay is fata’. Blacks obliged at any cost to seize the intiative ~ otherwise the detects in his pawn formation wil gradually tell 16 Rxa6 17 xcs Was Wes White's position has become uneasy ~ he has to rackon with the threats of 18.207, 16...005 and 18...£94 18 tar Euwe goes wrong, unable to find his way in the suddenly sharpened situation. Now Black's intiative quickly grows into a power ful attack. But how should White have continued? Let us consider 18 Het d7 (i 18...215 there is the sound reply 19 Wed) 19 4 Alter 19..2xe5 20 dxcS Whie's 5 is, defended, and 20...S15 is stongly met by 21 fe4! However, the opponent transposes moves: 19,..i151 20 Ws (20 047 2xd8) 20..23x05 21 dxc5 62! (Black is no longer satisfied with the draw after 21...2¢37! 22 Bags Wed 23 bred Sxa2+ 24 dend2 8) 22 ‘Wrbs Bros 23 Hoa NbxoS 24 Hes Rxc5, and White's position is dficut 418 eA! should nave been played, aftr which itis Black who faces a dificult task. 6-63, How should Black reply? ‘Alokhine suggested the variation 18.47 19 Sed Bxd4 20 Bras Wres 21 Wres ‘xc5 with equality. Emanuel Lasker pointed ‘ut that, instead of exchanging queens, 21 Weal with the threat of 22 Bxeé was stronger. Black has to agree to a markedly inferior endgame: 21.6 22 Dixo6 Wrd2+- ‘Aad inthe event of 19....g4 withthe simple 20 Wa3 White retains his extra pawn (less ‘convincing is 20 13 5), Vnitially thought that 18...J2g41 would easily ‘solve the problem: 19 ste Qxed! is bad for ‘White, while if 19 £3 there folows 19...51 But White has the important intermediate move 19 £2141, and if the rook moves, then 20 13 is now strong (the e5 square is under contro). Even so, Black has the right to goin for this variation, he finds an unexpected and complicated combination: 19..05!! 20 ‘Bxe5 Aixed! Its not possible to calculate ts ‘consequences at the board, but ll the samo there is nothing beter, s0 he has to take the tisk. 1" Rb A) The exchange of blows alter 21. fixbs 5)xcS (threatening 22...21xb3 oF 22..SL5) 22 dec5 Hes (22..£xe2? 23 Wxe? Ze8 does rot work because of 24 SoS!) 23 0-0! (23 13? cds 24 It M15) 23...2x02 leads to a situation in which Black retains compensa- tion for the lost pawn: 24 xa7 Sxft 25 Hilt e226 Wat Bxa2, or 24 dé Axtt 25 Bad o2, B) In reply to 21 Wed!, 21...2x08? 22 ‘Wag will not do for Black. 21-215 is an interesting try, when he obtains a caisfactory position ia the variations 22 Wes Sxe5 23 ‘dxo5 BxS (but not 23..txc57? 24 EdB+!) 24 204 (or 24 14 Saga) 24,,Wos! 25 t4 (25 2yxi5? Bxe5) 25...94, or 23 Wes He8 24 2961 Wxe5 (24. xo6!? 25 Webs Exbs) 25 eS x06 26 14 4 27 HaP (27 Ba Bos) 27.16 28 dd Bees. Alas, White finds a \alled refutation: 22 WIS! 2x05 23 gal! ho? (the bishap has no other good square) 24 a2! (weaker is 26 Zot? Zxds 25 Dixds Boss, or even 25..Hhxcs 26 Once Wess followed by ..W2) 24...axd4 (24.. bt 25 0-0) 25 xd Rese (25,..xo5 26 @xe2) 26 ®co6! ete There remains 21..tx02 22 Wxe2 (22 oxg7!) 22... x0 (22.. Wxe2+? 23 sexe? ‘tixe5 24 21479. 1123 dxe5 Wrc5 24 0-008RD 25 fet Tbs Black has the right to count on a draw, but ator 23 Zed! his prospects are ‘much worse. For example, the clever reply 23,2168! will be refuted by 24 dxes Wes 25 13 15, and now either 26 Woe, or 26 Mast? Wats 27 12 Want 28 Wes, Itturns out that objectively Evwe was right to allow the pawn sacrifice. Black’s initiative ‘can be suppressed, albeit with great it cl. 18 gat! 0 6 ost 20 oyas exdét 21 xg 21 exd4 dst (Alekhine) or 21 e4 xed! 22 red Bixc5 23 Wes Wad3 was even worse. 21 4x03 22 xe? UW 22 Saxb4 Alekhine gives the variation 22...2)45 23 a3 a5 24 Wcdl axb4l 25 Wid bxaS 26 Bt (26 bé ic3+ and ...dxbd) 26..21 27 Hat? So3+ 28 whe2 Mxc5, and Black wins. However, it isnot obligatory to take on {7 ~ after 27 sbe2! Hi the position sill mains unclear. 2... Oxge 2 hte eae 24 Bae Exes 28 Dxos 11.25 faxbs, then 25...We8! eee Wres InAlekhine's opinion, 25. He8+! would have ‘won more quickly. But also after the move in the game Black's advantage is sufficient for There folowed: 26 Sexbs We7+ 27 sbat Died 28 diet @ixe2 29 Fixe? hs! 30 Edt 29731 h3 a5 32 4 Bod 33 5.07 Weds 34 bt aft 35 bxad b3 96 axb3 Wrxb3s 37 het nee (37.. Wess! 38 debt Wa3!) 38 Had2 Wxad 39 205 (99 did) 39..0ch7 40 Be3? (40 b2 was more tenacious) 40.195! 41 a4 We2t 42 g4 Wet+ 43 shb2 Rxd2 44 Fee Let+! White resigns, Hazai- Unimann Halle 1981 1 26 2 46 ro 3 O03 ibs 4 85 Ger 5 shxe3+ 6 bxc3 5 7 of shar 8 at ‘Was 9 kaa bes 10 bs of 1 Wott! 11 0-0is more natural. The et square might subsequently be used for transfering the bishop to a3, " 6 2 exe axis 13 00 ge 4 Ret wr The king defends the e6 pawn. After {queenside casting the knight would remain tied othe e7 square—iit moved there would fallow xc5, when Black has no good recapture. 1s on 12 7 Re White prepares to place his bishop on #4. The immediate 15 4147 was a mistake in view of 15...6hxc3, when 16 2? Wt is ‘not possible. 6B... Ons 16 ate bs 17 hs gs 18 Was ha Otherwise White would have played g2-43, ‘making pointless the doubling of rooks on the gfe. 127 6-64, How should White act? He has to do something against the threat of 19,.age, 19 Ona “The solution that suggests itsolf - the knight Is played to 94. As we will see, in this case the inilative remains with Black, But what ‘can be recommended instead? Let's ty making the waiting and, generally ‘speaking, useful move 19 Ke2!, vacating the fet square for the second rook or for the Knight, After 19...Bag8 there is now the ‘comfortable defence 20 et. But there is also the surprsing possibilty of a sharp ‘counter-attack: 20 x06 Sxc6 (20..bxc6 21 Bet or immediately 21 bt) 21 Bxe6! ‘x06 22 Ret si177 23 Dena! Iisimportant that the king does not have the g8 square ~ otherwise the combination would not work. (0122...4867 23 Gx! Wad (bast) 24 Wxad Brad 25 Os xc? 26 Be7+ $e8 27 Ker+ ‘Hoe 28 Hes"? Las 29 wet with the thveats of 30 Oxd5+ and 30 Ze5. White's Unexpected combination led almost by force {oan ending that is rather hard to evaluate 19 Tab! can also be played, aiming for another tactical idea: 19. Hag 20 &xc4! (20 Lxc6!? x06 21 Fxe6! transposes into the variation that we have just considered) 20..ck04 21 Hxb7 Wa5?! (21..sv0? 22 HS and 23 Bx'5; 21...d8) 22 Tbs. The Counter-combination 22... Wxt3 23 gxt3 gi + 24 the2 Dcxdd+ 25 cxdd adds 26 seo? Exet is clever, but insuticiont in view of 27 Hib7. Black would probably have rejected 19._ag8?! in favour of 19.06 20 Sxc6 (20, x04? ches 21 Hxb7 Was, and the b5 square is detended) 20...2x08. For this position 19 62 looks more appropriata than 19 Habt 19 Hage 20 ga Txgat This positional exchange sacriice was un- wrote: ‘The desperate piece sactiice made by Blacks, of course, incorect. However, a {ow yoas later grandmaster Reiner Knaak, and then also other players, began playing ths. In the end, to judge by the Se editon of the “Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings experience has confirmed White's advan: tage. But I, by contrast, have begun to doubt sy intial evaluation 14 dx05. 15 Wea! White must play accurately, so as not to allow the opponent's counterplay to Hare up, as, for example, in the variations 15 214?! 26 oF 15 Wade?! Wad 16 Axd4 Dad! The ‘game Yudasin-Knaak (Trnava 1983) contin ved 15 Wo3%! ct (15...Wa6 is also possible - 16 &d27, as recommended by ‘Yudasin and Livsitz is refuted by 16...2x13! 17 Wxbs Rial, 15...805 is also good) 16 a3 cS 17 Wrds Sxbs 18 63 Has (18.051?) 19 ta! (19 Hb1 €5) 19. 2xb3 with chances for both sides. [An interesting suggestion wes made by Dolmatov: 15031? 3 (hopelessis 15. x3 16 2x13 05 17 Wxd5.- dha 18 Wes) 16 Rbt (16 a3 Outs 17 x3 Brat 18 dnte S16 19 a3 Was). || 16..Wa6 there follows 17 Bib2! Wiad 18 We2 with a great advantage. However, the simple reply 16.807 is Unpleasant, since 17 Wo2 Black has 17.8.5, 6. e471 15,..g6 16 3 fallowed by &.d4 Is clearly Unfavourable for Black. The best continua tion is 15..8xf3 18 @x3 @5! 17 xcs axes, Events developed sharply in the game Ermenkov-Knaak (Bulgaria-East Germany match, 1983): 18 QxeS We6 (18..tice8 19 14 Sa 20 Bint Bis 21 Wes) 19 14 5 (19.957 20 fixgs Wis 21 Wg4!) 20 Hact Eos (20..Hcls 21 Wea! g5 22 Dg!) 21 Wos! ds (21..Bxe5!? 22 x05 Wes 2a htt) 22.03 dia 23 gpa Bla 24 Bit Hote 25 d2!, and White retained the ‘advantage. However, Blacks play can be Improved by 20. Exct! 21 Fuxct 95, e.g, 22 Hle7 206 23 Bxb7 f.x05 with equal ‘The game Sisnioga-Matamoros (Sevile 1992) went 18 Hdt 047! 19 @id4 Ko 20, oS 05 21 Whs! Wrb2471 (21.208 22 Wes! Wro2+ 23 hs would have trans- posed) 22 dns Has 23 Wes!” with a big advantage to White (but 23 abt! was even stronger). In reply o 18...ig6! Marcel Sisniega exam- ines 19 Qxes Wis! 20 019 Bez 21 kez Bxb2, when Black has the iniative, and recommends 19 £d2 Bc2 (19...2d6 20 Bact) 20 Wxe5, considering White's posi tion tobe won, But infact after 20...1W3! his ‘opponent regains the piece. 1% ba Bes 17 bt Black's position would be acceptable, were it not forthe extremely unpleasant threat of 18, ‘Wo, simultaneously attacking two minor places. For example, n the game Henning- hham-Carion (Oakham 1990) White gained a decisive advantage after 17...216 18 Wa3! S)d6 19 De2 Wa5 20 a4 ed 21 4 7. 35 18 Has 121Re Now Black can avoid the loss of a second piece only atthe cost of both of his central pawns: 18..04 19 Wxd5+ sha 20 Wxed ®d6, but after 21 Wad he would, of course, ‘bo hopelessly placed es fet 19 xcs wre 20 ths Baxcs 21 xed 21 @ixe1 is also good, a. ry 138 @ 6-69, What should White play? Up til here my play had been based on common sense — deciding on sensible ‘candidate moves and choosing the most appropriate of them on the basis of the calculation of short variations. But it would ‘appear that the moment had come when it ‘was necessary to cease ‘playing’ - it was time to pick up the point. It is clear that White's material advantage should guaran- tee him a win. The only question is how to ‘convert it most simpy, 50 as not to give the ‘opponent counterchances and to avoid in tho future any technical or calculation aif Lots consider White's possible. ‘Air 22 Wxd5+ deh8 itis, unfortunately, not 122 possible to play 23 Wxe4 on account of 23..WiIts 24 dg Huot 25 Dt hB+! 26 Soxhs Hdd 27 Was WHS~ with perpetual check. After23 @)xet the reply 23.2265? 24 ‘Wed will not do, but the simple 23...Wxot! leads toa rather unclear sitalion in view of, the double pin on the white places along the fist rank, When you have a big material advantage, the problem can sometimes be solved by Giving up part of the extra material, This is also the case here: two ways of exchanging the queens suggest themselves, by return- ing one of the two extra pieces. 22 We2 oxi 23 Wxi2 x12. Alas, the resulting position isnot altogether clear. The knight at g1 has no moves, and the £3 pawn. may become dangerous. 22.03 oxd3 29 Sixt2 x12. Here 100 Black retains counterplay, and in addon, asin the previous variation, he stil has @ couple of pawns for the piece, so that technical ificulties cannot be avoided Strange! The postion looks totaly won, but for some reason an easy way to win cannot be found. It is one of two things: ether our evaluation is incorrect, or we have missed ‘something n our caicuations | was convinced tnat my evaluation was correct, and | quite quickly found a way of demonstrating it 22 Wxaset ene 23 batt This is the whole point: White not only inciudes his rook along the ist ank, but also launches a counter-attack ~ he creates the deadly threat of 24 xg7+. The main variation is easly calculated, a. wre 26 tgs 28 this also strong, a. xt 25 Gxt Wrtae 26 hs ee Black resigns, since for the moment he is a rook down, and 26...Wxht loads to mate: 27 Bixg7+ $xg7 28 Bxb7+ “Tne way to the goal sometimes proves to be much more complicated than in the above fexample. In such cases iis important to be able to sense that itis now that the key moment has artived, when a concrete solution to the position exists and you need to.concentrate, in order to find it Rajna - Damijanovic Tiovo-Uzitse 1981 ileaae4| 5 2 ts Deb 3 Obs 36 4 fas 16 5 0-0 er 6 Bet bs 7 ba 6 eheecal o-0 9 hs Bas 10 kee ry naa Wer 12 Qbear oxda 13 exad Bas Usually 13...2c6 or 13.067 is played. The dubious move in the game involves the idea ‘of opering the cerive by ..d6-05. The ‘simplest reply to itis 14 4517 4 on exdd Altor 14.45 both 15 exd5 exdé 16 2.95 and 15 Dixe5 ched 16 g9 are strong, a> 15 Qgat? White strengthens his contol of 4. Previ- ‘ously only 15 xd d5 16 05 Des 17 8 or 17 2 had occurred Boe 5 6 8 Dea 17 Qyx04 xed 18 fixed ab? 19 95 xed 20 x7 ‘Wxe7 21 Dxed a 22 Goa Eas 23 Wxas Exes ‘Tho variations given by Branko Damijanovic in the 32nd volume of ‘Chess Informator’ in reply to 23..ad8 are completely unconvinc- ing, Fits, after 24 Wes ict 25 215 Back has 25.807, when 26 Wo5 is parred by 26,.46, Secondly, ator 25.18 26 Wop Hots (126. Bxe5? the simplestis 27 Ob ha 28 Qxt74) 27 Bact Hats 28 he yd2 29 Hdd (according to. Damijanovic, White is winning) 29..2aMts 50 dogt des things end in perpetual chock. However, White's play can be improved by 2¢ Wd! 25 Wes, 24 ts! wis 25 Bact Kes Damfanovic claims that this is the only 129com ‘move, an opinion that can be cisputed. tis true that 25...2.c4? 26 b3 does not work, but itis not so easy to refute 25,,.2c6!? In addition, the commentator made an obvious mistake in the variation 25...2ixe4 26 Wred iB (after 26.26 he for some reason gives 27 Wes, rather than 27 WeBs) 27 De7+ h8, claiming that Write wins by 28 Wb with the threats of 29 Wxas and 29 Zg6e. In fact the knight check is no threat: after 29, Dq6+? teg6 the rook is datended (an ‘amusing optical ilusion!), Instead of 28 Wb stronger 28 b3! 28 Was aes @ 6-70. How should White exploit the advantages ot his position? Black’s probiems stem from the weakness of his back rank and his badly placed knight at 85. Both these factors are temporary: he only ‘needs io make an escape square for his king and bring his knight closer tothe main centre ‘of events, and the position will immediately become equal. This means it is now that White is obliged to find a concrete way of exploting his temporary advantages, to transform them into permanent ones, Gyorgy Rajna felled to cope with this task ‘The game concluded as follows: 27 2467 Bxed 28 Exed (28 xe Wo) 28.208! (28.28 29 b4, winning a pawn) 29 TeB+ Fixes 30 Pix08 Wes 31 Wxc8 (31 Wes 16) 31.Axe8 32 7 Ad8. Oraw, ‘But what should he have dono? First lot us analyse Damljanovic's recommendation. 27 war7 218 28 Der sone 29 bal? Iti important to keep the knight on the edge ‘ofthe board. Now tt does not have the e& squore, and the attempt to bring itinto play via o6 leads to mate: 29..206 30 @xe8 Exc6 31 Hoe, The position arising after 29 Bxe6!? heb 30 ‘Re willbe analysed bolow. 2... as 30 Exo6 fie6 31 13 or 31 Re? was threatened. The altematve was 29...xe4 30 Hxed Wats 31 bho Wxa2. Damlanovic thinks that Write wins by 32 TIS with the threat of 33 Ws, butBlackhasadetonce: 32. Weat (93 hd Wd6+ 34 4h). Stronger is 32 Woe! Bas (32..Wht2? 33 Ria and 34 Sigg) 33 Wes B16 Sa Wes! Boe (34,.aB 5 Deel) 95 Hod! Hes, and only now 36 WIS! (withthe threat of 37 Wshi7s) 36..n 37 We. Another, perhaps simpier way ie 32 35! threatoning both 38 68, and 39 We) 32..Wxl2 55 Hes Wide 4 gs Wos 35 wai 30 Wer maz Bt Baez 31 Ri We 32 Hs71 7 33 Web dB 34 ‘Dgb+ gb 35 Les is much more convinc- ing a Bxe2 32 Bxez Wats 33. he wat 34 Hea White's advantage is undisputed, although after 34.1Wd2 oF 34. WB the game contin- This s a very complicated analysis, which in meee adétion contains some substantial naccura Gos. Since things are bad for Black here, he fas to s00k a way of improving the defence. AA te very start of the variation he could have mado an escape square for his king But which of the two moves ~ 27..n5 oF 27.26 ~ is cotoct? 4) 27..n5? 28 Tx06 Hx06 29 x06 Wre6 30 ers don7 31 West g6 (bad is 31.15 82 Wanse) 32 ops dno 33 Wns+ wigs 34 hee! (94 ft (5 also strong) 34..sban 35 ‘Wad. S95 96 1444, and Black is mated oF loses his queen 2) 27..n61 28 Bxe6. Consideration should be given to 28 Dasi? Black has a choice between 28..H48"? 29 Bxe8 Exc7 90 Els ‘6 with @ slighty iforior endgame, and 23..W95I? 29 WreBs (in the event of 29 Brot Bred 90 Rives Waed 31 Wats txt? 32 Dds deb 33 Dxod se the activity of the black King compensates forthe missing pawn) 29, x08 30 Zixe8! (threatening 31 Eg4) ~ here he sil has to datend careful, t0 avoid coming under an attack 28,..x06 29 Bx06 Wxe8! (Informator’ ‘ives only 29,.106? 30 Wes dh? 31 De? land wins) 30e7+ (30 Wa8 7 31 Was Was5 32 Wras Wo1+ 23 na Wrt2 leads to Sra) 20.87 91 Wade (£91 Wed or 31 Wes there follows 31.15) 1..96 32 Wa8. 11 RD Alter 92..15 33 Wic7 WIT the postion iooks ‘quite dangorous for Black, but the outcome is stil not altogether clear. The same can be Said about the knight ending arising after 52.16 33 Qs! (33 We7 Wets 94 nz Bey) 33.06.34 Wa7H17 WaT 35 Ox16+ g7 36 xa7 ASI? It's better to play '32.,.8g7!, whon a draw becomes the most probable result. ‘wnat else can be done? | know as many as three good solutions to the problem. The first, involving an attack on the king, was found by Stefan Kindermann; the second ~ ‘active play on the queenside ~ was sug: gested by Sergey Dolmatoy, and the third ~ transposing into an endgame with an extra pawn -was discovered by Roman Siobodjan. 1 27 Ries Whats the point ofthis move? Firstly, along the 3ed rank the ook strengthens the attack, as, for example, in the variation 27...¢8 28, Exe6 tes 29 Wd7 WIT (29...18 90 De7+ he 31 HFG) 30 Dhes! gxhé 31 Hgss eta 32 BIG. Secondly, it moves off te frst rank {and cannot be taken with check. After 27..n6 28 d6! it is no longer possible to play 28..Fixe4? 29 x08, while it 28...28e7, then 29 Bxe6 Zxe6 30 2x17! sext7 31 BI. Black i forced totally onto the defensive, but then things become strategicaly hopeless for him, ar Dred 28 Brea Rte 29 Gers one 30 bs ‘The consequences ofthe variation 30,.._Wat+ ‘31 sha Wxa2 32 WS! are already known to 8 27 aa Exploiing the vuinerable placing ofthe oppo- nents pieces, White weakens the bS pawn. 125Rp ar 6 HH 27..96 there follows 28. xe6! tes (28.8426? 29 WaBs) 29 Wa7 Kie 90 DNnG+ he 31 Fgd Wad? 32 xe6 withthe torrible threat of 33 Be7, 28 axbS axbs 28..2x04 29 Exe also doos not ease Black's position, e.g, 29. xed 30 Weed (30 ‘Wass sen7 31 Wrod), when he remains a pawn down, or 29,..208 30 Wes Wxes 31 Bes cd $2 Kos axbs 33 Rubs Edt 34 ‘hh Tt (94...202 95 b3) 35 bal (out not 35 3? 22 withthe threat of 36..2Mt+) 29 a6! Ered 30 Dros! was 31 Wixbs: White should win, m 27 Res! x08 23 Wa? hte 29 Der ihe 30 Rez s 90..Se4 31 Wes Wes 32 x06 Dxb2 33 Bxas, 31 bat Less good is 31 ds Wes or 31 We7 Ded 31. es 32 ast Itis this move, made with the intention of playing 33 Wer, that constitutes Siobodian’s ‘idea. | considered 92 c7 93! 33 13 Wy5! (Wwoaker is 33..18e6 34 Wes!) 34 Wxas, Wre7 35 Wraé b4, when the outcome ‘omains unclear. 3. gs Alter 92.1805 or 32... there follows 33. ‘Wo7, while if 32..Wat+ 33 &n2 Hess, then 3416 33 tat | should like to emphasise that each of the ‘analysed plans for converting the advantage exploits, in one form or another, both of the detects in the opponent's positon, which wore pointed out at the very start. Here is ‘s0en the ‘principle of two weaknesses! which was descrbed in the second part of ‘Endgame Analysis’, Volume 1 in this seres, We will return to itagainin the next part ofthe present book Georgadze - Dolmatov 46th USSR Championship, Vilnius 1980/81, 142 ‘Atter_combinative complications inthe mmiddlogame, Dolmatov has emorged the ‘xchange up. However, the opponent retains activ resouroes such as 2d or He7, and i some cases the oS pawn may become a ‘Gangerous passed pawn. inthe game Black ‘was unable to convert his material advan- tage. 28.148 29 dub2 (29 0467? Fad) 29...2.47 30 dba Hes 31 Zat! This stiong move was ‘overlooked by Dolmatov. He had only reck- foned on 31 Fit Hic7 32 206 He2+ followed by ..a7-a6 and ..c6. 31.26 32 Dd6 Hers 33 we3 Ze7 34 as Bc6 35 Gxe6 Fixe 36 “ixb7 Exf2. The initiative has already been seized by the ‘opponent, andifhehad now played 37 28! things would have been dificult for Black 87 died? Exh? 38 DdB Ros 39 Des Hers 40 da Bg? 41 Fixa6 Hxg3+ 42 tied gas 128 me 43 Qa! Here the game was adjourned. ‘Analels showed that wih correct play this tery sharp endgame should end in a draw. is diagnosis was confirmed on the re sumption. 49..N5 46 BS N4 45 Ta3 G7 46 06 95 47 Ee Hed 48 Les Hed 49 Hed Zed 50 cS Bese 51 diet, Draw, Wouldn't you agree that even such an ‘outcome cid natcispel your ist impression, that the postion should be won without partcuar dict, and that itis only neces: ary to find a more accurate plan? Let's try! \We would deprive the opponeat of counter- ply, if we wore to break up his strong formation on the queenside. Theretore the moves ..87-06 and...7-b5 suggest them salves. Q 6-71. Evaluate the consequences of 28...06. ‘The simplest reply Is 29 Dd6!? bxcS 30 2)x08 Hxo8 31 bs! Bc7 32 shb2. Frome’ the king blockades the passed -pawn, andifthe ‘opportunity prosents itso, it wil also attack. It The activity of the white pieces compen- sales to & considerable extent for the missing pawn, and a draw is the most likely ‘utoame. Also correct is tho sharpor 29 6 SI? 90 ixbS £2.43 (threatening 31...xc4 82 xed Exc6) 31 Hob Hibs 32 ds! Eb (82. .ixc4 33 x04 Exd4 34.06) 33 xa Bxbé 34 Hes! ‘The second ty is 28..b5 29 Stxbds 09. 06-72. Does it lead to a win? Black has thee threats: 30..Hb8, 20.25, and 30..2x04 31 Sxcd 25. 30 a6 Sxbs 31 Qxb5 Hb (or 31.25) is dubious for White, He needs to bring his king tothe help ‘of his queenside pawns: 90 Seda! 190.168 31 3 a5, then 32 Edt? axb4+ 93 dhxs. Black is also not promised anything by 20,.fixed 31 xc a5 32 dhe axbé+ 33 shxba Eber 34 42051 He has not managed to Rd . ‘eliminate the strong c-pawn ~ it was sup- ported just in time by the king. In this variation the initiative on the queenside inevitably passes to the opponent. After all, hore he essentially has an extra piece, since the black king s stuck n the opposite corner. Let us return to the move made by Doimatov {nthe game, It includes the black rook inthe play, and therefore is quite logical 28 ‘Rta! 29 bbe But Black's next move 29...07? did not justly iself. What else could have been done? 29...}2d4 looks tempting. In the event of 30 ‘ude? Mba 31 thas Brads 92 xed ExeS Black has a great advantage. However, the ‘opponent can roply 30 2b3!? or 30 c3I? Here is an approximate variation: 30 c3 Bags 31 dib2 (threatening 32 107) 31..e7 32 O)d6 Hd2+ 33 thas b6 34 HeB+ tog? 95 Ras! Hee (the only move) 36 dt! (after 36 oBr Exod 37 Hxe8 bxc5 38 bxc5 HxcS 39 £Eo7+ sn Black retains the advantage, but ‘36 061? is possible, with an unclear position) 96..Ret 37 cxd6 axd6 38 408+ Bxo8 39 Hes. "Nevertheless, our inital intention of breaking Up the queensice pawns is too tempting, Let Us try carrying it out now. 23 30 xbs beBlack has sharply activated his forces. The ‘opponent has three possible defences. 31 a6 Exb4+ 32 shas Habs. It now 33, Rots Mixes 34 sb, then 34...bB+ 35 she3 d.d7 36 a5 Hot with a decisive advantage (bad is 37 07? HS). But itis rot clear whether Black can refute 33 061? 31 Bc6 Hxb4+ (less good is 31..1d4 32 Sbb3) 32 die3. Now 32. bbs 33 6 is pointless. After 32...Hdba Black retains the advantage, but to convert it into @ win is not easy. 31 de Bras 32 cx08 BxDs 33 Hess seg? 34 d7 Sxd7 95 Ro7+ deh 36 Rxd7 Badd 37 %e3 followed by 43, and the rook tending is drawn, Instead of the pawn capture there is also 36.2517, when White can choose trom 37 #03, 37 shed and 37 Bas, ‘The results of this analysis are staggering. Black is a clear exchange to the good, but there is no obvious win, We have found the only way of retaining the advantage, but even there itis dificult, if at all possible, convert it How great in chess are the defensive resources! White to move. ‘White to move White to move 128 19RL An ‘Easy’ Win The aesthetic perception ofa chess game should be based on its inner content, and not on its ‘appearance. In the end, itis the word of ideas alone that is beautiful in chess. ‘ron Nimzawitsch ‘A grandmaster encounter somatimes resom: bles an iceberg. On the surface there is ‘thing in particular, everything seems sim ple and understandable. A quite different Impression arises if you succeed in seeing the underwater part, Here you cannot get by without a commentator. | very much lke reading notes which describe the latent forces at work, the reasons for choosing a Particular move, and psychological exper ‘ences atthe board. Allthis is usually present, ‘when the game is demonstrated by one of the players. ‘The Yusupov—Timman candidates somifnal match in 1992 began with a rapid and Confident win for Yusupov. The spectators, and also the experts inthe press centre, aid ‘not notice any hidden subtleties. However, after the game Artur was extremely ted. ‘The reason became clear to me, when he described the problems that ho had had to solve. Yusupov ~ Timman Candidates Match, 1st Game, Linares 1992 1 at O16 2 of 96 3 On aig? ar) oo 5 ig 6 8 00 5 7 oxds exds 8 G3 Dea In this opening variation one of the knights (and sometimes both) invariabiy invades the Contra square. For example, i ...2c6 there follows 9 2.5! Anatoly Karpov likes to place his knight on e5 a litle eater, instead of 8 Des, 9 Bxea axes 10 05 6 ‘The play takes on a diferent aspect atter 10.8051? 11 bal? 06 12 Sb2, 11 Wb3+ 6 2 Beh De6 B 5 14 Rae be 15 att? ‘A year earlior this variation occured in the 4th game of the Yusupov-Dolmatov cardi- dates match (Wik aan Zee 1991), but there White played diferent. 16 Hact &.47 16 lifdt b6! The star of an Interesting plan, aimed at restricting the bishop at a2. Weaker is 16..1e7 17 25! 130 ‘Dyes 18 dxeS KisB 19 125 b6 20 3 with the beter chances for Whito (Andersson Nunn, Skolletea 1989) 17 eS Dxe8 16 dxe5 bl OF course, not 18.ix0571 19 Ac3 SLxc3 20 Bre, won White has an obvious advantage 49 Xc5. Tho quoon sacifice 19 Bxbs 25 20 ‘fixe Bibs 21 Sig? leads ony to an equal positon after 21..Rd3! 22 26 Ws. 19..a8! Weaker is 19..W9D6 20 Axbé! (20 Wros fast 21 b3 xb3 22 2x3 Wis) 20..21d8 21 a3 Whos 22 axb3 Tbs 23 an 20 WeAl If 20 23 it's now possible to play 20,..Wb6 21 Edot (21. axb47? Wcs) 21, Pied 22 Bxob Hxc8 23 BxcBs cB 28 axb axbé wih equalty 149 06-73, How should Black continue? 20...Wb6?is dangerous in view of 21 Sxb4 Waa 22 Wy Lixb4 23 2x47 Bxb2 24 ft! Exad 25 act Ratt 26 g2, when the initiative is entirely in White's possession Dolmatov replied 20...2¢82!; there folowod 21 Waal Hxes 22 Wes £68 23 ft, and ‘White retained the better chances, although after fascinating adventures the game never theless ended in a draw. 131 Later Sergey found the strongest plan of defence, involving the reinforcement of his vulnerable d7 and ba points 20.0171 21 Het. If 21 @et 218 22 Hc7, then either 22...0c8 with equality, or 22. ‘We8!? followed by 23...2b5, 21...818 22 Ec? HDS! Unexpectedly White has problems ~ tne black rook wants to take fon e5 oF occupy the strong square dS. This variation vividly displays the main idea of Black's strategy: shutting the d2 bishop out ofthe game. Playing against Jan Timman, Yusupov no- ticed tat in reply to 15 Bact not only 15,..247 ls possible, but also the immediate 15...05, This is why Artur decided toimmedi- ately suppress the opponent's activity on the ‘querside, However, the move 15 ad was ot new. It occured in the game Rib ‘Andersson (Clermont-Ferrand 1989). Alter 15...07 16 Wa3 eB 17 a5 £16 18 Wa2 Wer 19 Hict Hoc8 20 11 Was 21 abt 28 22 b4 White maintained some pres- Bowe 2 06-74. How should White continue? After half an hour's thought the grandmaster played 16 Hact! | suspect that ths informa-a tion will have provoked in you a perplexed reaction ifnot one of indignation Infact, why Award ‘wo exciamation marks to the most natural move, one which any player would hhave made in a bite game? But the move itslt is merely the tip of the iceberg. After secing the underwater part, you will realise why his was the turning point of the entire game and why it largely determined its outcome It is useful to begin the solving of any positional problem with the question: ‘What does the opponent want, and what was the point of his last move? It ums out that Black had prepared a breakthrough in the centre. 16.08! 17 doS (17 x05 x05 18 axes Waa) 17.426. How can the threat of ...e6-28 be pariad? ‘The simplest solution would appear to be 16 [Bfat ~ after al, this move comes into White's plans, since it prepares the thematic ie (we have seen it in the games Yusupov— olmatoy and Andersson-Nunn). However, atthe given moment moving the rook trom tt | a postional mistake, allowing the black queen to occupy safely the splendid contral square d5. Earlex Black did not play ...1Wd5, since he was afraid of tha undarmining move 12-91, when after the exchange of pawns on 13 he would have to waste time moving his ‘queen, Butinthe event of 16 Stat? Was! the undermining move is na longer possible, and Black is excellonty placed, ‘The other easy solution 16 3 is not bad, but even so i rather a pty to black the file, along which the white rook wants to operate. This can be piayad it it is not possible to find a stronger continuation. ‘There is a wel-known expression ‘tactics at the service of strategy. Yusupov established that, after the systematic developing move ‘made inthe game, ..06-€5 would encounter a tactical refutation, 16 Eact!t Here Timman sank into thought and realised that in reply to 16..05 the opponent had prepared 17 Sixes! xed (17.005 18 deo Wrd2 19 Hc7) 18 dx05 Wa? 19 Thxc6, oF 18,,Sx05 19 Kes! a3 20 Bd. He had to reject his intended plan and look for another one, whichis always unpleasant and ificut. In such situations mistakes become righty probable. We already know that 16..Wa5 is strongly ‘met by 17 {31 In the event of 16...d7 the position ofthe rook at 7s rather ridiculous. t 's possi that 16..J4c7 folowed by ..d7 ‘was comparatively best. Timman preferred another vay of developing his pieces. ices bs 6-75. What should White play? Black wants, by placing his bishop on b7, to then gain contro! of the dS square. The drawback to his plan is that the e8 pawn is weakened, and Yusupov skilfully exploits this factor. 17 13 When such a move does not involve the gain of tempo, itis usualy not too advantageous to White. Artur nevertheless makes it, since hie has in miad a conerete tactical idea, 7. exis 132 18 xt a7 tis doubtful whether other moves are batter: 18,207 19 D4 oF 18,.e7 19423, 19 xcs! ‘This unexpected exchange is the whole pot. on x06 20 Ges xaat ‘The only chance. Completely hopeless is 20..d0xe5 21 Hxc6, when Black cannot defend his €6. The attempt to complicate the game by 20, 205 21 Sxi7 sixt7 does not WwWotk. tt could have been justified after 22 We3?! Ro7 23 Wes Ws 24 Hc3 He7 25, Efe 2b7 (threatening 26..Wd5) 26 Wes 161? with reasonable positional compensa- tion for the lost exchange. The refutation of this idea Is not difficult: 22 Wo! Bb7 (otherwise 23 We?) 29 04! Zxdés 24 92. a1 Ox xb? Equivalent to capitulation. The opponent could have been set much more diticult problems by playing 21..fd71 We will return again to this moment. 22 Oxds 2x8 ‘The concluding stage of the game is an example of the technical conversion of @ Rp ‘material advantage, Chances of saving the ‘game for Black might be given either by a ‘counterattack on the enemy centre with 6-e5, 0° the consoldation of his own position after playing hs king to the cent. But things do not get as far as that 23 Bes! Wishing to force events, White avoids the natural 23 He7. He intonds 24 Bfct and 25 cB. The exchange of one pair of rooks for the sake of invading with the remain- ing rook along an open file is a typical procedure for exploiting the advantage of the exchange. a. bas 24 Ete ‘t6 28 Reb ‘abr 26 eer! In the event of 26 Bxd8+ Sixa8 all the squares on the crfle would be covered. ‘Therefore Yusupov avoids the exchange and ‘occupies the 7th rank with gain of tempo. 2B .. koa 27 liber ‘The a7 pawn will nat tun away. Its far more important to exchange bishops, depriving ‘the opponent of his last hopes’ of gaining ‘counterpay. oe 8 23 ier she? 29 Bre? 6 30 gxf4 oxi 31 exté 35 a et ts 33° Rb, bs 34 Eee? Black resigns. Let us go back a litle, and see what could have happened if Black had played more strongly on his 2tst move. zi wart soo ned dagam 133a @ 6-76. How would you hai exploiting your advantage? set about you have lite time fet on your clock, or you are simply lazy about calculating compl ‘cated. variations, then without particular feflection you can simpy the postion by 22 ‘Wos sexi? 23 We7 Hb7 24 Wxa7+ Exa7 (weaker is 24..2x7 25 24), Gut this vorsion of the endgame is much more favourable for Black than the one in the ‘game, and after, say, 25 Stb4 a5 or 25 Ro8 £5 he retains quite good saving chances. 22 Wa2!? soxf7 is more ertical. Now nothing is given by the primitive 23 Hat bs 24 Wra7? Zb7 or 23 Re3 05 24 Rict Rb7. White has to play more sharply. | soe two ways of beginning an attack against the black king: 23 g4 oF 23 d5 exd5 24 04. Inboth ‘cases, of course, you cannat get by without doe and accurate calculation. First let us consider 23 94!? White's idea is revealed inthe variation 23...25? 24 gx! Galt 25 tres Wes 26 Eitt+ 216 27 ‘Whar and wins. In the event of 23.9871 24 gxlS gxt5 25 HxfS White gains the advantage, 0.9 25....06 26 Hxc6)? (26 RS) 26...Who6 27 Wha? Bas 28 WI7+ she 29 B95, oF 194 25,..8h8 26 Hg5 Hoe (26..2xu4 27 Wes, intending 28 £03) 27 Wes Black can defend in gambit style: 28... 24 gxls 205. After 25 fx06+ sixe6 26 Wt ‘Hera double-edged position arises. Stron- gor Is 25 txg6+ thge 26 gxh7+ torn? 27 Wot and 28 Wo6 But another way of sacrificing a pawn is, in iy view, more promising for Black: 23..